Deliveries impacted by 9-hour-long I-70 closure
MORRISON, Colo. (KDVR) — Thursday’s nine-hour-long Interstate 70 closure after a deadly crash and semi fire left drivers searching for other routes and some, including folks hauling loads on big rigs, waiting it out for hours.
This crash and the aftermath are likely going to make a lot of deliveries later than expected.
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Anyone near I-70 on Thursday afternoon likely saw more traffic than usual. Even along Colorado Highway 93 in Golden, drivers were looking for any route westward when I-70 was closed.
Emmanuel Terane was hauling a load westward when he, like other big rig drivers, found themselves coming to a stop when trying to get on I-70.
“I’m late with my load right now so I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Terane said.
His haul, a truckload of wallpaper on its way to Utah, likely will not make it to its destination by his 5 p.m. deadline, a casualty of the interstate closure.
“My GPS said like 5 o’clock,” Terane said on Thursday afternoon, “but look at the time right now. There’s no way I’m going to make it. I’ve been sitting here like an hour.”
Roads around I-70 clogged with traffic
The roads around I-70 were clogged with traffic. Folks tried to find any way around the closure to get west.
“I may have to just stop for the night. It is what it is,” Terane said. “I sent pictures to my company, everybody else, to let them know what’s going on.”
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Terane, like other drivers, was forced to keep an eye on the road, calling family, employers — anything to pass the time.
“That’s the only thing we can do to keep you company,” Terane said. “I cannot go back there and take a break, like lay down, in case if it’s clear.”
Finding another route was an option for some drivers but not Terane, who had to wait out the road closure.
“I don’t know any other ways, you know, it’s Colorado,” Terane said, “I don’t want to go somewhere I may be stuck. It’s not space for the truck. I don’t know, I may sleep there.”
Traffic moving as normal on Friday
FOX31’s Jim Hooley returned to I-70 on Friday morning where both directions of the interstate were fully open.
Hooley credited CDOT, fire crews and hazmat crews for responding quickly and working to reopen the major interstate.
SkyFOX flew over the scene on Friday where the burn scar is the only remnant of Thursday’s fire, and traffic was moving smoothly.
While traffic is back to normal, deliveries may still be delayed due to the extensive closure.
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