It could be days before Interstate 25 reopens after deadly Colorado train derailment, Polis says
The effort to clear Interstate 25 of debris from Sunday's deadly train derailment could take days, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement Monday.
State and federal officials are investigating the derailment that spewed a large amount of coal onto the highway. The train derailed after a rail bridge over a 65-year-old overpass collapsed onto a tractor-trailer, killing the driver, a 60-year-old California man.
The semi was wedged beneath the bridge, which came down on the truck's cab. Cracks could be seen on the concrete structure that supports the tracks. Digging went on into the night to try to determine if any other vehicles were buried beneath the coal.
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Now Polis is pushing U.S. Transportation Secretary Buttigieg to allow state officials to allow clean-up efforts to begin as quickly as possible.
"I am saddened that a life was lost in this train derailment and send my condolences to his family and loved ones. I have been briefed by CDOT and yesterday I spoke directly to Secretary Buttigieg and BNSF, the operator of the train," Polis said, in part, in a statement Monday. "We cannot begin our work to reopen the highway until the National Transportation Safety Board clears us to proceed and I urged Secretary Buttigieg to allow us to conduct debris removal as soon as possible. It is estimated that the debris removal phase could take as long as 48 hours, but I am ensuring that we are doing everything we can to complete it more quickly, including beginning preparations now so we can begin as soon as we are allowed to and save precious hours."
I-25 is over 1,000 miles long and mostly runs north to south from the Mexico-U.S. border in New Mexico through northern Wyoming. The corridor is mainly rural, especially in Wyoming, although it does run through the Albuquerque, Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Denver and Fort Collins metro areas. It's Colorado's main north-to-south highway.
The NTSB investigates certain transportation-related accidents and incidents pertaining to airplanes, railroads and bridges, as well as some motor vehicle and maritime incidents. The agency said it's investigating the crash and will determine the cause.
The train comprised five locomotives and 124 cars carrying coal, the NTSB said. Thirty cars derailed at milepost 109.7. A team of four NTSB investigators arrived at the scene Monday.
"As part of this investigation, NTSB investigators will determine the probable cause of the derailment and examine the adequacy of track inspections, oversight of track maintenance, the bridge's structure and maintenance, and any issues with rail equipment," the agency said.
A preliminary report should be complete in approximately 30 days, but a final report could take one to two years, the NTSB said.
Colorado State Patrol spokesman Maj. Brian Lyons said, "They start their investigation. We work on the remainder of the cleanup, and that will take a considerable amount of time with the debris and everything that is on the roadway."
Trains were moving on nearby tracks, but I-25 was shut down in both directions. Highway 115 is the recommended alternative.
"Anytime you see that many rail cars bunched up and coal all over the road, it's a pretty big deal, and it's going to take some time to clean up once the highway is released to us, and if there is damage to the highway, it will have to be repaired," Amber Shipley, a spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Transportation, told CBS News Colorado.
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With this being the second train derailment in Colorado in less than a week, Polis, in his statement Monday, spoke to broader infrastructure issues in Colorado and the state's efforts to improve them.
"Our administration has been working for months to position Colorado to take advantage of the safety and rail investments that Congress and President Biden made possible through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law," Polis said. "Sadly, those improvements come too late to prevent this incident but it's clear that federal funds for rail support are critical for Colorado."
