PUEBLO, Colo. — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said Interstate 25 near Pueblo will fully reopen by Thursday after a BNSF train derailed there Sunday afternoon.
At a news conference late Wednesday morning, Polis said the southbound lanes of I-25 will reopen "in a few hours." Colorado State Patrol posted just after 2 p.m. that the lanes had reopened. The northbound lanes will reopen sometime Thursday, the governor said.
Polis added that drivers can expect reduced speeds through the derailment site as crews will be working to make repairs.
Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) spokesperson Matt Inzeo said CDOT last inspected the bridge that crosses over I-25 in 2022. He said BNSF would have inspected the lines more recently, but he didn't know exactly when the last inspection was done by the company.
The interstate had been closed in both directions just north of Pueblo since Sunday afternoon when the BNSF train derailed. The train consisted of five locomotives and 124 cars that were carrying coal, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Thirty cars went off the tracks, the NTSB said.
A semi-truck driver, Lafollette Henderson, 60, of Compton, California, was killed when the train cars toppled over from a bridge that crosses over the interstate. Henderson was the father of six children.
Clean-up efforts have been ongoing since Tuesday, after the NTSB turned over the site to the state. The NTSB's preliminary findings said a broken rail is suspected of causing the derailment. The agency's final report could take at least a year before it is completed.
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