***** UPDATE: Helicopter operations in Glenwood Canyon on Thursday, July 28 have been cancelled, so the road will remain open until an alternate date can be determined for the work.
Whichever side of Glenwood Canyon you’re on right now, if you need to be on the other side, then you should probably get on your way very quickly. Interstate 70 through the canyon will be completely closed for much of today and tomorrow while Colorado Department of Transportation crews install heavy-duty fencing to prevent rock slides.
CDOT makes every effort to avoid daytime closures, but their crews will need full daylight to handle the work that has to be done, which includes using a helicopter to lift 13 steel posts into two sites in the canyon. The work follows a rock slide that sent boulders the size of small cars onto the highway back in February, resulting in week-long total shutdown of the canyon.
CDOT geotechnical specialists chose the fence locations and say they included some overlapping protection, which will hopefully prevent unexpected and expensive closures like the one in February.
The highway will be fully closed between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m today and tomorrow. The rock slide mitigation project will be continuing until September, but CDOT doesn’t expect to need any additional full closures after Thursday.
