Southbound lanes of I-25 reopen in southern Colorado after deadly train derailment
On Wednesday, Gov. Jared Polis traveled to the site of the deadly train derailment near Pueblo that had shut down both directions of I-25 to give an update on the cleanup efforts and investigation. Southbound lanes of I-25 reopened just after 2 p.m. Wednesday. One person died when a coal train derailed on Sunday.
Lafollette Henderson, 60, of Compton, California, died when the semi he was driving was under the bridge that collapsed when a BNSF Railway coal train derailed on Sunday as it was passing over I-25 a few miles north of the Pueblo city limits. That sent 30 train cars filled with coal off the bridge and onto I-25.
A preliminary report from federal investigators has determined that a broken rail led to the derailment.
I-25 had been closed in both directions since the derailment and detours were in place. The goal is to have the northbound lanes of I-25 reopen on Thursday.
Polis' office said the closed section of southbound I-25 was being re-paved before it reopened. The Colorado Department of Transportation is working to re-open northbound I-25 no later than Thursday evening and may open a single lane prior to re-opening the entire road.
Drivers traveling through that area should expect a rough driving surface because the damaged roadway will be milled and there will be slightly reduced speed limits temporarily through the stretch for safety.
Repairs to the bridge will take longer partly because there is confusion over which entity owns the bridge. BNSF Railway said the state has ownership. CDOT said they have conflicting records on the 65-year-old bridge.
BNSF Railway issued a statement addressing the train derailment on Wednesday saying:
"We would like to thank Governor Jared Polis, the Colorado Department of Transportation, the Colorado State Patrol, Colorado Sherriff's office, the City of Pueblo and its first responders, the Federal Railroad Administration, NTSB and the many volunteer first responders from across the region. We appreciate their partnership and support.
Last but certainly not least, I'd like to thank the community for their patience. We understand that the closure of I-25 has been a major inconvenience to the traveling public and we're working with state and local officials to re-open the highway as quickly and safely as possible.
We understand that there are still questions related to the ownership of the bridge. We along with CODOT continue to review documentation that dates back to the 1950s. I can confirm that BNSF does have responsibility for inspections and maintenance of the structure and will be replacing the bridge.
Our teams regularly conduct extensive track, bridge, rail and weather event inspections across our network. BNSF routinely conducts a number of inspections to the track using a combination of rail detection testing, advanced track infrastructure testing and visual inspections, including the most recent inspection that occurred on Sunday, October 15 prior to the derailment.
All that being said, we are committed to continuous improvement and will carefully consider the NTSB's final report and recommendations when they come out to more fully understand what lessons can be learned from this incident. Any additional questions regarding this accident investigation will be deferred to the NTSB."
