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Rock Slide Forces Closure of Major Colorado Highway

road-closed-signGLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A major east-west highway in western Colorado will be closed until at least Thursday afternoon as crews try to clear a rock slide in a deep and narrow canyon.

The slide happened Monday night on Interstate 70 in Glenwood Canyon about 125 miles east of the Utah border. Highway officials shut down traffic in both directions along 24 miles of highway.

A truck was damaged, but no one was injured.

The highway is closed from Glenwood Springs in the west to Gypsum in the east. The shortest detour adds about 140 miles to the trip, taking traffic north to U.S. 40 and then back south to I-70.

The scenic canyon is so narrow that engineers had to design multiple tunnels, bridges and split-level lanes to accommodate the highway.

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