Truck crash in Glenwood Canyon leads to I-70 closure, cargo loss and safety concerns

A crash involving a semi-truck in Glenwood Canyon on Tuesday has brought safety on Interstate 70 through Glenwood Canyon into renewed focus. The crash occurred at about 9:30 a.m. about six miles east of Glenwood Springs near mile marker 122.

According to Lisa Schwantes, regional communications manager for the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), the truck was traveling westbound, loaded with plastic boxes and wooden pallets, when it broke through and damaged a 200-foot railing and landed on the eastbound roadway 25 feet below. The accident caused road closures in both directions.

The westbound lanes reopened after about two hours, while the eastbound lanes were closed for more than six hours, causing a traffic backup of about six kilometers, according to Schwantes. Shortly after 9 p.m. on Tuesday, the left eastbound lane reopened, but the right lane remained closed.

Sherri Mendez, spokeswoman for the Colorado State Patrol, provided further details.

“The driver was taken to the hospital and issued a citation,” Mendez said, also noting that the eastbound lanes were expected to remain closed until about 7 p.m. Mendez said the reason for the citation was not given.

Tuesday's accident adds to a long history of tractor-trailer crashes on I-70 and in Glenwood Canyon that led to the adoption of lane restrictions and additional measures to reduce tractor-trailer crashes on that stretch of interstate earlier this year.

In response to the frequency of such accidents, Governor Jared Polis signed a law in May banning tractor-trailers from using the left lane in high-risk areas of I-70. These areas include Glenwood Canyon, Dowd Junction, Vail Pass, Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels, Georgetown Hill and Floyd Hill. The law, which went into effect in August, aims to reduce crashes involving large commercial vehicles in these notoriously dangerous sections of the highway.

Such accidents still occur, but their frequency has decreased since January 2023, when six separate accidents involving commercial vehicles occurred in the canyon.

This summer, a similar rollover occurred in June at mile marker 112 between New Castle and Glenwood Springs. The accident closed the eastbound lanes for over five hours, even though it did not occur in Glenwood Canyon.

In August, three people were killed and two others injured in a rollover accident involving a semi-trailer truck in Wheat Ridge.

Schwantes said investigators are still determining the cause of Tuesday's crash.

“We do not currently know what the cause of the accident was and whether the driver was driving in the left lane,” said Schwantes.

Drivers affected by Tuesday's crash were advised to take the alternate northern route from Rifle. The route follows Colorado Highway 13 to Craig, continues on US Highway 40 to Steamboat Springs, then heads south on Colorado Highway 9 to Silverthorne, where travelers rejoin I-70.