Infrastructure crash: Routing I-70 through
Glenwood Canyon destroyed
the canyon, cost billions and
kills people
The Aspen Beat,
by
Glenn Beaton
Original Article
Posted By: Big Bopper,
8/8/2021 11:20:43 AM
Glenwood Canyon in Western Colorado was the last obstacle in I-70 across America. They just needed one last 14 mile stretch along the Colorado River to connect with Glenwood Springs. From there the highway was already in place down-river and onto the deserts of Utah.
They blew it.
They chose to follow the old wagon road alongside the Colorado River through the magnificent canyon lined with steep 2,000-foot cliffs of sandstone, shale, limestone and granite.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Dodge Boy 8/8/2021 11:26:42 AM (No. 871899)
We live in Grand Junction and drive glenwood canyon a the time - until now. Yes, OP's comment sums it up. In the 1970s during planning, the enviros would not accept any other options. And there were much better options abeit very expensive ones. We now pay the price. And this will be just the start of it.
12 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
downnout 8/8/2021 11:31:37 AM (No. 871907)
No doubt there was money changing hands.
22 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Blue-Z-Anna 8/8/2021 11:44:09 AM (No. 871930)
Ya' buncha back seat drivers!
They got it built over tough terrain. Modern Dems would waste the money on social programs ,steal most of it......and still call it infrastructure !!!
17 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
mathman 8/8/2021 11:55:10 AM (No. 871943)
It is an engineering marvel. Useless, but a marvel. Weather is what weather is. And falling rock is what falling rock is. And any "engineering" which fails to take weather and rock into account is wishful dreaming.
Several billion dollars later, what have you got?
A useless engineering marvel.
16 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
red1066 8/8/2021 11:56:52 AM (No. 871946)
This is an absolutely beautiful stretch of highway. The views are spectacular. The real danger is keeping one's eyes on the road while driving. It's a difficult task.
20 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
planetgeo 8/8/2021 12:51:45 PM (No. 872022)
Anyone who has driven I70 along that stretch knows that the real danger is the homicidal speeding drivers having no clue what it takes to stop a 2-ton SUV going 80 miles an hour, sometimes in icy or rainy conditions.
12 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
DVC 8/8/2021 1:29:43 PM (No. 872049)
I've driven this route many times, and have no problems with it at all. Nice, very scenic drive. This engineer sees it just like the road up and over Brenner Pass, an even bigger marvel of putting a major highway in extremely difficult terrain, and both make travel easier. If you ever get a chance to drive the autostrada up to and over Brenner Pass....don't miss it. Beautiful and another engineering marvel.
I don't know about the alternative path that Mr. Beaton suggests, perhaps it could have been easier. This one is done, decades ago, and works fine. The last tunnel at the end was finished about 10-15 years ago, IIRC. No more going down to two lanes for a short stretch.
I'm not sure who's ox was gored to set off Mr. Beaton, but I don't see this as a big deal. And ALL highways in mountainous terrain are often plagued by fog, ice and falling rocks. It literally comes with the territory.
How many have crossed Afton Mountain in Virginia on I-64 in winter? The fog is often so dense that it is the only section of interstate that I know of that has lights set into the roadway to light the center line so that they somewhat reduce the crashes in the very common, exceptionally dense fog. And they have a lot of ice and falling rock there, and many other places, too. Not unique at all. May places add chain link fencing, rock bolts, and 'catch areas' to deal with falling rocks. Commonly needed in the mountains.
Much ado about nothing much, I think.
7 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
zephyrgirl 8/8/2021 1:43:24 PM (No. 872063)
Falling rocks are always an issue on I-70 and various roads through the canyons in the Rockies. The roads are quite scenic, but there's always the chance that a rock will break free and kill you.
6 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
snowoutlaw 8/8/2021 2:10:53 PM (No. 872086)
I would think a long tunnel would have been cheaper and done zero damage to the canyon.
1 person likes this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
konocti95 8/8/2021 2:19:56 PM (No. 872096)
They are currently working on that stretch of I-70 and closed the bike path due to a wild fire a couple years ago. I took the bike ride with my wife about 5 years ago and had a delightful experience. Unfortunately with a bike lane closed lots of tourists miss out. I'm sure hundreds of riders rented bikes everyday during the season. We went on our anniversary in September and had some spectacular fall colors. Also Amtrak's Southwest Chief goes through the canyon every day. It's been a well-traveled route for many many years.
5 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
Blue Hen1 8/8/2021 2:25:58 PM (No. 872101)
Got to drive it this spring, beautiful drive, but very anxious about one of those “cannonball’s” coming thru the windshield
5 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Lizzyboo 8/8/2021 2:40:57 PM (No. 872114)
As a resident of Grand Junction in western Colorado, I have encountered far more boulders sliding down onto the roadway through Debeque Canyon than Glenwood Canyon.
5 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 8/8/2021 4:47:04 PM (No. 872215)
I've driven that incredible road, and it's amazing in either direction. Granted, it's crazy Engineering, and difficult to maintain. In Europe they'd have chosen to bore tunnels with openings every so often for safety, such as the St. Gotthard Tunnel in Switzerland.
1 person likes this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
Grounded 8/8/2021 7:50:24 PM (No. 872379)
The railroad got there first and snagged the easy route through the canyon.
I seem to remember that one of the boulders that came rolling down and smacked a bus was actually pried loose by a highway worked doing preemptive clearing at the top of the gorge.
1 person likes this.
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Comments:
Anyone who has driven this stretch knows it's an engineering marvel, but a really stupid one.