The Federal Highway Administration will quickly send the state $11.6 million in emergency money as crews rush to reopen Interstate 70 in Glenwood Canyon.
The announcement Tuesday was a day after Gov. Jared Polis and the Colorado Department of Transportation requested $116 million for repairs, cleanup, detours and other work on the east-west thoroughfare. Polis and CDOT asked that 10%, $11.6 million, be expedited for immediate work.
“We are thrilled to have such close coordination with our federal partners to ensure federal resources are quickly on their way to Colorado,” Polis said Tuesday.
I-70 through Glenwood Canyon has been closed indefinitely since a major overnight rainfall on July 31.
In a news release, CDOT Director Shoshana Lew said Tuesday that CDOT’s maintenance teams “have made great progress” and engineers have “made similar strides in developing a plan to reopen I-70.”
