Updating traffic conditions on second full day of train derailment on I-25 in Pueblo
PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- More drivers appeared to be following the Colorado Department of Transportation's advice Tuesday, to use Highway 115 and U.S. 50 as the primary detour between Pueblo and Colorado Springs to get around the train derailment that occurred Sunday.
KRDO traveled the recommended detour and found traffic heavy at times on Highway 115 but flowing smoothly despite road construction there; there were no issues on U.S. 50.
While most drivers said that they didn't mind the inconvenience, David Mace said that the detour made the job of moving to a new town more of an ordeal.
"We're going from Fort Garland, trying to go to Falcon," he said." The roads have been terrible. My trip normally takes about three hours. Now, I'm at four to six hours, depending on traffic. I have to ask for another day off from work to get everything done. But I don't think there's another solution. The authorities are doing the best they can."
Kyle Birkholz, from Wisconsin, said that he was unaware of the derailment when he traveled to Colorado.
"I wish I had known about it -- it would have saved me a couple of hours," he confessed. "I've got a campsite down in the Sand Dunes, so I'm hoping to get down there today so that I can check in."
The recommended detour brought extra business to the convenience store/gas station in Penrose.
"We've been swamped most of the day," said Kerry Newell, the store's newly-promoted manager. "I didn't expect it. How do you schedule for something like a derailment? I hadn't heard that Highway 115 is the recommended detour."
CDOT recommended that detour as alternative to the initial detour of rerouting traffic off Interstate 25 north of the derailment, onto Overton and Old Pueblo Roads; however, CDOT said that route can't adequately handle large traffic volumes and was meant only for large trucks.
Maj. Brian Lyons, of the Colorado State Patrol , explained why that detour remains in use.
"Some of the questions and comments that we're getting today, are that people who use their Google and GPS for maps to figure out their route, that's the route it's taking them to," he explained. "So, they're getting on I-25 and not following all of the signs and detour notifications, and they continue south, and then they get in a big cue and are there for quite a while before they get to Exit 110. There's just too much traffic for one detour to handle it all."
That detour stretches across paved and unpaved areas, through rural and northeast Pueblo neighborhoods -- but it was less dusty because a truck sprayed water to dampen the unpaved sections.
Several times, passing train -- hauling more coal, ironically -- delayed traffic through the tunnel.
Lyons also addressed numerous traffic violations made by drivers seeking shortcuts around the derailment.
"We see those violations, we do contact those motorists and they are receiving citations for disregarding a traffic control device, going around a barricade, improper crossing of an interstate highway onto another roadway," he said.
Those violations, Lyons said, are punishable by fines of between $75 and $133, as well as a loss of three to four points from a driver's license.
He added that the State Patrol has six troopers manning stationary positions for traffic control, and two troopers on roving patrols.
KRDO learned Tuesday that some large trucks are unable to fit through a tunnel under I-25 that leads to the detour -- either because they exceed height restrictions or have loads that are too wide -- leaving those truck drivers temporarily stranded.
Two affected truckers said that they have been unable to travel from that area since Monday, as they wait for authorities to determine the best way to move them.
