From Bennett To The Buffalo Herd: I-70 And Colfax Feel Ghostly Right Now

By Hart Van Denburg

· Mar. 23, 2020, 2:39 pm

Coronavirus Colfax and Hwy 40 From Bennet top the Buffalo Herd Overlook — Truckers at sunrise on I-70 near Watkins.

Traffic and business on a Monday morning usually render Colfax Avenue and Highway 40, its western offspring, clogged with traffic. On the morning after Gov. Jared Polis said he couldn't enforce a stay-at-home order, "but the Grim Reaper" could, a journey east to west on the major thoroughfare was sometimes a lonely experience — although some things felt familiar.

Coronavirus Colfax and Hwy 40 From Bennet top the Buffalo Herd Overlook — Pulling out of the Love’s truck stop early Monday, March 23, on I-70 at Watkins.

Coronavirus Colfax and Hwy 40 From Bennet top the Buffalo Herd Overlook — Watkins, Monday, March 23.

Coronavirus Colfax and Hwy 40 From Bennet top the Buffalo Herd Overlook — Tony Aguilar at work in the kitchen of the Happy Burrito in Bennett, Monday, March 23, 2020.

Coronavirus Colfax and Hwy 40 From Bennet top the Buffalo Herd Overlook — With schools closed, buses are parked in Bennett at daybreak, Monday, March 23, 2020.

Coronavirus Colfax and Hwy 40 From Bennet top the Buffalo Herd Overlook — With school closed because of the coronavirus outbreak, Bennett High School’s parking lot is empty, Monday, March 23.

Coronavirus Colfax and Hwy 40 From Bennet top the Buffalo Herd Overlook — No breakfast crowd. A Village Inn parking lot is deserted at breakfast time on Colfax in Aurora, Monday, March 23.

Coronavirus Colfax and Hwy 40 From Bennet top the Buffalo Herd Overlook — The state Capitol, closed curing the coronavirus outbreak, on Monday, March 23.

Coronavirus Colfax and Hwy 40 From Bennet top the Buffalo Herd Overlook — Civic Center Park the morning after Gov. Jared Polis advised people to stay home, Monday, March 23.

Coronavirus Colfax and Hwy 40 From Bennet top the Buffalo Herd Overlook — A non-existent morning rush hour on Colfax, viewed from Federal Boulevard, Monday, March 23.

Coronavirus Colfax and Hwy 40 From Bennet top the Buffalo Herd Overlook — Siobhan Hauff takes an order from Carter McCluskey as Rosie the dog looks on at Dutch Brothers Coffee on West Colfax in Lakewood. Monday, March 23, 2020.

Coronavirus Colfax and Hwy 40 From Bennet top the Buffalo Herd Overlook — Davies Chuck Wagon Diner in Lakewood is closed. The morning after Gov. Jared Polis advised people to stay home, Colfax Avenue from Bennet on up into the mountains where it becomes Hwy 40, was a ghost of its normal self — although some facets of life carried on as usual, Monday, March 23, 2020.

Coronavirus Colfax and Hwy 40 From Bennet top the Buffalo Herd Overlook — A visitor takes pictures at the Buffalo Herd Overlook. In some ways, life in Colorado carried on as usual, Monday, March 23.

Coronavirus Colfax and Hwy 40 From Bennet top the Buffalo Herd Overlook — Social distance from humans to bison: 3 feet. The Buffalo Herd Overlook, where life carried on as usual, Monday, March 23.

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