Travelers on E-470 near Aurora faced delays over the weekend when a semitruck carrying parts for a wind turbine experienced a mechanical failure, leading to an extended closure of the southbound exit to Interstate 70. The Denver Post reported that the breakdown occurred early Saturday morning, just before 5 a.m. near milepost 20, where a trailer hauling windmill drivetrain components broke, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
No injuries were reported in the incident; however, southbound traffic was impacted for several hours as the state patrol and emergency crews worked on the scene. The trailer, having shifted its wind turbine load significantly enough to cause the structural compromise, rendered the truck immobile, forcing officials to close the exit and advise motorists to seek alternative routes. "Motorists should plan on an alternative route," the agency suggested in a statement released early on the day of the incident.
By late afternoon, the obstruction had been cleared, and the exit lane reopened around 3:30 p.m.; this information was gleaned from a separate report by CBS News Colorado, which confirmed the reopening of the lane and detailed that the drivetrain component was what shifted and contributed to the trailer's malfunction.
