CYW 039 Stacked Highways

Beyond just wanting to break up the monumental drive to Yellowstone, we selected this marginally circuitous route so we could transit I-70 through the Glenwood Canyon area just east of Glenwood Springs.  Environmental concerns, and practical challenges involved in shoe-horning this highway in between the mountains, the Colorado River, and the existing rail line (used by among other things the Amtrak California Zephyr) made design of this section a major architectural challenge.  This 12 mile section of roadway finally opened in 1992 and was the last major piece of the Interstate Highway System to open to traffic.  In this shot taken from the Bair Ranch Rest Area you see the two directions of travel stacked atop one another, as it is for most of the route throughout the canyon.