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Long delays on I-70; bridge detour going well in town

Chunks of the old bridge deck get loaded into trucks to haul away for recyling into gravel.
Post Independent

Drivers Monday morning experienced long delays on Interstate 70 from west of Glenwood Springs, but reasonably smooth sailing once they got off the interstate and onto the Grand Avenue bridge detour in town.

At 7 a.m., the trip along the detour route was taking 20-30 minutes from I-70’s Exit 114 in West Glenwood along Midland Avenue and Eighth Street back to Grand Avenue downtown, said Kathleen Wanatowicz, public information manager for the joint-venture contractors Granite-Wadsworth. That’s roughly the best case that the Colorado Department of Transportation had hoped for.

However, drivers on I-70 reported backups. Advertising assistant Kara Saenz said it took two hours for her to reach downtown Glenwood from her home in New Castle, almost all of that on I-70. Traffic moved steadily along the Midland Avenue-Eighth Street detour in town, she said.

Law enforcement and traffic crews were able to get an ambulance carrying a cardiac patient from New Castle through the detour to Valley View Hospital shortly after 8:30 — an issue that prompted significant concern in planning.

A reader submitted this photo from about 6 miles west of the detour exit:

Here are some scenes from downtown early Monday:

Workers cut metal on the old Grand Avenue bridge.

Demolition of the old Grand Avenue bridge was underway Monday.


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