Talk about a tough job.
For hours on end these past two weeks, Colorado Department of Transportation workers have responded with incredible flexibility and speed to ever-changing conditions along Interstate 70 in Glenwood Canyon.
They have coordinated with numerous other agencies the U.S. Forest Service, Garfield and Eagle counties, the city of Glenwood Springs, Colorado State Patrol, National Weather Service and more to keep motorists safe and traffic moving.
But there’s only so much they or anyone can do about the 30,000-acre Grizzly Creek Fire burn scar that scoured parts of the canyon and Flat Tops. Lacking vegetation to hold it in place, soils throughout the area are easily swept onto I-70 during heavy rains such as what we’ve experienced recently.