Colorado officials have decided to reroute traffic around a 8.5-million-pound boulder that crash-landed on a state highway rather than destroy the massive rock.
Democratic Gov. Jared Polis announced Tuesday that Colorado will spend $1.3 million — some of which will come from federal emergency funding — to reroute Colorado Highway 145 instead of shelling out $1.5 million to blow the boulder up. This move will not only save $200,000 in taxpayer money, but will also allow Colorado to turn the boulder into a new state landmark dubbed “Memorial Rock.”
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“We expect that for generations to come, people will have the opportunity to observe this geological masterpiece that we’re calling Memorial Rock,” Polis said at a Tuesday news conference, according to the Denver Post.
The boulder, which is reportedly the size of a house, was the largest in a rockslide that ravaged roadways outside the town of Dolores on May 24. It left an 8-foot trench in Highway 145 as it slid across the pavement.
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