A bomb threat called into a hotel closed U.S. Highway 160 for more than two hours Tuesday in west Durango.
The highway reopened at 5:13 p.m.
A man called the Holiday Inn & Suites with the bomb threat shortly before 3 p.m., said Cmdr. Ray Shupe with the Durango Police Department. Police are investigating who made the threat and where it came from, he said.
Officers evacuated the hotel and went room-to-room to clear the building.
“Until we can prove it’s a false threat or something like that, we treat it like it’s real,” Shupe said. “You can’t afford not to.”
As of 5:30 p.m., police had not found anything suspicious. Employees and customers were expected to return to the hotel Tuesday night, Shupe said.
The highway was closed between Camino del Rio and Wildcat Canyon. Traffic was rerouted onto County Road 210, which goes past Lake Nighthorse.
Durango School District 9-R bus routes DW1, DW2, FL1, FL2, FL3 and RJ were delayed as a result of the police investigation, according to an announcement by the district.
Most routes were able to be completed, but students with bus stops in the closed section of Highway 160 had to be returned to their schools to be picked up by their parents, said district spokeswoman Julie Popp.
Agencies that assisted with the bomb threat included Durango Fire Protection District, La Plata County Sheriff’s Office and Colorado State Patrol. The Farmington Police Department Bomb Squad was placed on standby.
shane@durangoherald.com