Steamboat Springs — Regional Transportation Director David Eller told members of the Routt County Board of Commissioners and Steamboat Springs City Council Tuesday that in the wake of the Feb. 15 rock fall onto Interstate 70 in Glenwood Canyon, which re-routed much of the interstate’s traffic volume through northwest Colorado, the Colorado Department of Transportation is preparing to take a fresh look at the limitations of Colorado Highway 131 serving as an emergency detour route for traffic when I-70 is shut down.
“We’re kicking off a program on the I-70 corridor,” Eller said, to determine “where critical areas are. Itap focused around natural disasters — fires, floods and when that highway closes, whatap your redundancy?”
Motorists in Steamboat Springs and Craig saw a dramatic increase in traffic including over-the-road trucks, when a 24-mile stretch of I-70 between Glenwood Springs on the West and Gypsum on the east, due to a rockslide. A Glenwood Springs shows the interstate closes an average of every 2.4 days west of Denver.
State Highway Commission Chairwoman Kathy Connell of Steamboat Springs reiterated her concerns Tuesday that regional highways will continue to sustain significant damage when the canyon is closed. For example, Colorado 131 is not built to carry those traffic volumes and CDOT spent $6 million to repair a highway bridge in May.
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