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Memorial Rock: Colorado to reroute highway around massive fallen boulder

Published  June 5, 2019 3:15pm EDT
U.S.
FOX 5 New York
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Two huge boulders fell onto State Highway 145 near Dolores, Colo. (Courtesy of Colorado Department of Transportation)

DENVER (AP) - A boulder the size of a house that crashed onto a southwestern Colorado state highway last month will stay put. State officials plan to reroute the highway around it—saving taxpayers money and possibly creating a tourist attraction.

Democratic Gov. Jared Polis said Tuesday that Colorado will save about $200,000 by not blasting the 8.5-million pound boulder.

The boulder was the largest in a rockslide that destroyed pavement on a stretch of Colorado Highway 145 near the town of Dolores on May 24.

It will cost about $1.3 million to re-route the road, some of which will come from federal emergency funding.

Polis said people will also have the opportunity to see the boulder dubbed "Memorial Rock." It fell on Memorial Day weekend.