The highway across Dillon Dam reopened with restrictions Friday afternoon after Denver Water officials reached a compromise with angry Summit County officials and residents.
The road, which carries an average of 8,500 vehicles a day, was closed July 8 with virtually no warning from Denver Water, which owns the dam and the water in Dillon Reservoir.
The compromise leaves the road open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Trucks are restricted to 1-ton hauling capacity or less, which eliminates all dump trucks, semi-trucks and large delivery vans.
Emergency vehicles, including firetrucks and ambulances, still will have to unlock the barricades to proceed across between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Officials said the frequency of emergency calls drops significantly during the hours the road will be closed.
At a news conference at the dam Friday afternoon, Air National Guard Maj. Gen. Mason Whitney, head of the state Office of Homeland Security, called the reopening “a collaborative agreement allowing for security procedures while still allowing public access.”
Chips Barry, manager of Denver Water, said the security measures “are designed to make more certain that the dam will still be here . . . to ensure that it does not become the target of an attack.”
Local reaction was mixed.
“We are pleased the road has been reopened,” said Silverthorne Mayor pro tem Peggy Long. “The health and public safety of our community has been our primary goal. This agreement represents a reasonable approach to the security at the dam.”
Others weren’t so embracing.
“I’m happy the road is open. But I still question why it was ever closed,” said state Rep. Christine Scanlan, D-Dillon.
“Longer term, we’ll try to secure additional federal dollars from (the U.S. Department of) Homeland Security to help reinforce the dam infrastructure to take the threat level down.”
Denver Water said it closed the highway for security reasons, although no threats had ever been received. Denver Water reasoned that so many people live below the dam that the loss of life would be catastrophic if terrorists ever breached the dam.
But the closing and the lack of warning caused bad blood between local residents and Denver Water.
“I’ve lived underneath this reservoir all my life and I’m not concerned,” said Summit County Commissioner Tom Long. “I worked on Interstate 70 and set off a lot of explosives every day without any trouble. The dam was designed to withstand earthquakes and everything else.”
Scanlan said the manner in which Denver Water closed the road without warning “resurrected a lot of bad blood between locals and Denver Water.”
She said residents of the old town of Dillon, which now is underwater, were given only two weeks to move when construction of the dam was announced.
“We have got to find a different way to work together,” she said. “There just has to be a more pro-active way.”
The restricted reopening took effect immediately Friday.
Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com
