JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — A hazmat situation involving a semi leaking hydrochloric acid led to a closure of Interstate 70 and Highway 40 west of Golden Wednesday, and other semi drivers, looking to avoid the closure, have now become stuck on nearby roads, officials say.
As of 12:33 p.m., eastbound I-70 and Highway 40 have reopened. The westbound lanes of I-70 remain closed.
Colorado State Patrol (CSP) said its troopers responded to the initial incident on the interstate at 7:51 a.m. Wednesday.
Sgt. Ivan Alvarado, public information officer with CSP, told Denver7 that crews arrived to find a semi fire "involving some form of acid" on westbound I-70 near milemarker 258, which is just west of the Woolly Mammoth Park-and-Ride in Golden. CSP later confirmed the leaking fluid was hydrochloric acid, according to its preliminary investigation.
Both directions of I-70, as well as Highway 40, which runs parallel to I-70 on its north side, were closed in the area.
The driver involved in that incident is OK, Alvarado said.
The CSP Hazmat unit, as well as other hazmat teams, responded to this incident.
Around 9:40 a.m., the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office alerted the public to a second hazmat situation. This one happened after a semi high-centered on Grapevine Road, which is south of the I-70 closure.
Grapevine Road has several sharp and narrow turns and is only partially paved road.
Denver7's news chopper captured the below scene of one semi that crashed off the side of that road near a tight turn. The sheriff's office said the semi spilled fuel.
Due to these multiple incidents, Grapevine Road will likely remain closed for several hours, the sheriff's office said.
The sheriff's office added that it received reports of multiple semis stuck on Lariat Loop Road — the windy road with tight turns that runs from Golden to the top of Lookout Mountain and back down to Highway 40. That section of road is also called Lookout Mountain Road.
Grapevine Road and Lariat Loop Road are not safe for semi trucks, according to Jacki Kelley with the sheriff's office, but it appears that the drivers tried to use both after hearing about the I-70 closure.
Instead, the sheriff's office said semi drivers headed east on I-70 should exit at Evergreen and take Highway 285, and those headed west should exit at C-470 or W. Colfax Avenue.
