Glenwood Businesses Adapt To I-70 Closure After Rock Slide

<p>(Courtesy CDOT)</p>
<p>Glenwood Canyon after the rock slide.</p>
Photo: Glenwood Canyon Rock Slide (CDOT)
Glenwood Canyon after the rock slide.

But Marianne Virgili, Glenwood Chamber's CEO, say there's a bright side: "What will happen frequently is that people who are headed east towards Denver will hear about the closure and stop in Glenwood Springs and maybe stay an extra night or two."

Glenwood Springs is also a gateway for access to the ski resorts of Aspen and Snowmass, up Hwy 82. Much of Aspen’s winter tourism arrives by air, but City Market there had some bare shelves Tuesday after a delivery truck had to be re-routed around the slide and road damage.

The department of transportation said Tuesday it hopes to open the interstate in limited fashion on Wednesday, but it's making no guarantees. Work crews have to clear massive boulders from the roadway, scale the canyon walls to prevent more rocks rom coming down, and then repair the road surface.

If work goes according to plan, CDOT will begin using pilot cars to run alternating, single-lane if traffic through about 6 miles of the canyon. Alternate routes are posted at the CDOT website.