Colorado
Five homes to be evacuated during I-70 rock removal
Posted: Mar 30, 2011 3:12 PM by Greg Boyce
BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. (AP) - A 30-mile stretch of Colorado's main east-west highway will be closed and five homes will be evacuated while crews use a helicopter to remove about 40 rocks - some as big as a car - from above the road.
Officials say the boulders on a mountain alongside Interstate 70 near Georgetown, west of Denver, range from 2 feet to 16 feet in diameter. Five homes are below their potential path, and police are asking residents to evacuate during the work. Lanes in both directions will be shut down Tuesday morning between Silverthorne and Empire. They're expected to remain closed until 5 p.m. If work isn't finished, 1-70 will shut down again the next day.
The Summit Daily News reports the rocks were discovered within the last month. But the state couldn't get a helicopter to help remove them because of recent wildfires.
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