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.”
“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.
