Turns out that big rockslide last Friday night that crashed a giant boulder down onto I-70 near DeBeque Canyon, did injure someone after all…
(Potential Slides :49)
A 19-year-old man was caught in the slide, police say struck in the head by a rock as he drove the interstate that night, and he’s recovering in a western slope hospital. The largest boulder was broken up by CDOT workers and hauled away in pieces, overnight Friday into Saturday, and the highway was back open by Saturday evening. Most of the state’s concern, although big stones anywhere can be loosened by rain or other weather, focuses farther east than that incident, near and through Glenwood Canyon. The Grizzly Creek Fire of a couple years ago left that stretch of I-70 with unstable soil that’s more prone to sliding. CDOT’s Matt Inzeo says so far this summer, that hasn’t been much of a problem, but now could be the time it starts getting worse…
230822 M Inzeo- later in summer is bigger :06 Q:…more activity…
And of course everyone hopes that won’t be the case. A couple weeks ago, a few inches of muddy water covered a short stretch of I-70 for a while after a downpour, but it got quickly cleared away. Matt says CDOT’s pleased with the progress of the healing process along the Grizzly Creek burn scar the last couple years. He says improvements the state’s added, like rock nets to catch some of what falls, have done their jobs well. That can help minimize trouble for drivers.