The Colorado Department of Transportation says U.S. Highway 550 near Ouray will be open 24 hours a day after crews cleared a rockslide that closed Red Mountain Pass on Jan. 12.
CDOT spokeswoman Nancy Shanks says the highway opened to single-lane, alternating traffic at about 8:30 p.m. Monday.
“They’re done for now,” she said Monday night. “They’ll be paying attention because they’ll be plowing every day – but we’re good to go.”
After working from dawn to dusk, seven days a week, crews stabilized the mountainside and completed a 360-foot-long by 24-foot-high fence to keep more rocks from falling onto the roadway.
The closure severed the only direct route from Ouray to Silverton, normally a 24-mile drive over the narrow, winding pass. A detour over Dallas Divide and Lizard Head Pass had added nearly 180 miles to the trip.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
