Glenwood Canyon I-70 mudslides....!

Is 50 reopened? I understood it was closed from Gunnison west, except for an hour or so mid afternoon and another short time period in the evening. Check the CDOT site for accurate info.

You may want to drop down to 550 across to Cortez. That's the way we took coming east from Bryce.

Thank you so much Allworth for the information. This may be a trip that just scares me to death coming and going. We have horseback rides booked in Bryce Canyon, I'm pretty sure by the videos it's not flat. Thankfully we are not taking horses but I get to worry about them at home while trying to enjoy vacation. Also going with a group may help, another couple in a MH and 2 flying. I'm sure there will be some interesting stories to tell after this. I wouldn't want to get on a plane anytime soon. However this seems like a really long trip even before the mudslide and road closure.

Please any info and updates on the road is sure welcome.

Shadow,

You might not be too happy on 50. Monarch is a long, slow, mountain climb going West to summit and a shorter, steeper, mountain decent once you top-over. Also there may still be some construction delays on 50. I don't know what their schedule is.

There is nothing inherently dangerous about it and there are pullovers to catch your breath. Thousands of RVers do it each year. We prefer it because we avoid Interstates, and it is the easiest way to get to Montrose. We have done it 4 or 5 times in each direction with a 35 foot fiver behind a 3500 Diesel.

If 70 is open, it will be backed up, but an easier drive. Your other option is to go into Utah through Wyoming. Maybe at Vernal. (see Dinosaur NM).

A

Thank you for posting but the link didn't work for me. We have a trip planned to Bryce Canyon Labor Day coming from Indiana. I don't know which way scares me most driving I-70 if they open it or Hwy 50 as the alternate route. Can anyone enlighten me on how 50 is with a motor home? Or if and when 70 opens and how it is, I'm a little afraid of heights.

CDOT reporting to hopefully have some access through the canyon...
I'm sure there will still be some back-ups and always for potential for re-closure, but a step in the right direction.

Saturday afternoon target for reopening Glenwood Canyon one lane each direction

https://www.postindependent.com/news/saturday-afternoon-target-for-reopening-glenwood-canyon-to-one-lane-each-direction/

Edited to correct link.

Last I heard they hoped to have one lane open in each direction in a few weeks. They're saying it will be winter before both lanes in both directions are open. Depending of course on further evaluation of the structural damage once more of the debris is cleared away.

colorado Dot and its contractors know how to use front loaders and dump trucks to clear landslides and rock falls.


Colorado dot flickr album

https://youtu.be/vEUhZts__Gg

Other videos show the extend of the damage. It's clear to me that the so-called "stockpiling" photo shows a front loader clearing a lane through the thinnest part of the slide. Videos report 100 people being stranded. So minimal emergency passage was more important than some sort of systematic clearance. With ongoing heavy rain predicted (through tonight), the tractor driver was actually putting himself in some danger.

I am somewhat familiar with the Canyon having driven it several dozens of times... and while I agree it is a Gubmint job, me thinks they need to really asses the conditions. A majority of the two lanes each direction have no shoulder. Kinda' tough to have a dump truck and another implement in there to do what most might think would be a more efficient way of doing clean up. I am guessing they are trying to get at least a lane open on each side so that assessment crews can get in to determine the damage to the infrastructure. Clearing the debris is one thing, but there will need to be repairs performed and from what I am hearing it will be several weeks before open to traffic.

I spent some time last night watching the many videos posted and associated it on the googly earth. From what I can tell, this is not one slide. There seems to be 2 or 3 major areas crossing the interstate and at least 2 locations where it is over the railroad.

I watched THIS VIDEO last night which was released by CDOT. It takes the viewer up to the higher points from which soil came. Pretty amazing the potential energy that flowed down!

Ivylog wrote:
No wonder it’s going to be closed indefinitely… one loader stockpiling material instead of loading it in trucks and removing. ...

I believe that's called a front-loader, not an excavator. It can't just swing around and dump the rocks into a waiting truck behind it. But then I've never worked in construction ...

No wonder it’s going to be closed indefinitely… one loader stockpiling material instead of loading it in trucks and removing. The railing on the west bound lanes is broken.