A motorist struck a pole on eastbound Interstate 70 near Northfield and Quebec in Denver Thursday, triggering serious injuries and prompting police to warn drivers to expect delays in the area. The department described the incident as a traffic crash.
Denver Police announced the investigation in a post on X Thursday morning, writing that officers were responding to “a traffic crash at EB I-70 and Northfield/Quebec involving a motorist who struck a pole that resulted in serious injuries,” according to the Denver Police Dept.
The department's alert did not specify how many people were hurt or the nature of their injuries, and it did not say whether any lanes were shut down as a result.
Police did tell drivers to brace for backups, advising the public to “expect delays in the area,” per the same post. Crash Alerts are not issued for every collision the department responds to — Denver Police's own disclaimer states that a Crash Alert goes out only when at least one person involved sustains serious injuries or when a crash results in road closures, and that not every traffic crash meets that bar.
A Familiar Stretch of Highway
The Northfield/Quebec interchange along eastbound I-70 has turned up in other serious crash reports in recent years, though those incidents are separate from Thursday's investigation. A pedestrian was struck by a motorist early one Sunday morning near North Quebec Street and eastbound I-70, with one person rushed to the hospital with serious injuries, according to a prior Hoodline report.
Other crashes in the same general corridor have caused extended closures. In one case, all eastbound lanes of I-70 in Denver were shut down after a wreck, with eastbound traffic diverted off the interstate at Northfield Quebec Street and the highway not reopening until just before 8:20 a.m., Denver7 reported. In a separate incident, eastbound I-70 lanes at Quebec Street were closed for several hours one Monday afternoon, with lanes starting to reopen by 6 p.m., according to CBS News Colorado. The dates of those two reports were not available in records reviewed for this story, so they should not be read as recent events. A third crash in the vicinity, at the intersection of Quebec Street and Northfield Boulevard, involved a Denver Police officer and shut down traffic on Quebec Street for a time, CBS News Colorado also reported.
Traffic Deaths Remain a Regional Problem
Crashes like Thursday's add to a grim tally across the Denver area. Denver recorded 94 traffic fatalities in 2025, according to the Denver Gazette as cited in a prior Hoodline report, while Colorado recorded 701 total roadway deaths statewide that year, per the Colorado Department of Transportation. Looking at a longer stretch, the Denver Regional Council of Governments logged 1,564 traffic fatalities and more than 9,500 serious injuries across metro-area roads between 2020 and 2024.
Denver Police did not release the identity or condition of the person injured Thursday, nor did the department's post address what caused the driver to strike the pole. The department maintains traffic crash data through Denver's Open Data Catalog, and more information about the agency, including that its social media account is not monitored around the clock, is available at denvergov.org/police. For police services, the department directs residents to call 720-913-2000, or to call or text 911 for emergencies.
