Snowstorm may ‘kickstart’ journey forward of Presidents Day weekend, with as much as 2 hour delays anticipated on I-70

Colorado transportation officers are warning vacationers to plan forward as a snowstorm is inbound forward of what’s usually one of many busiest weekends for ski journey on the Interstate 70 mountain hall.

With as much as a foot of snow within the forecast for a lot of well-liked ski resorts, Colorado Department of Transportation Traffic Operations Manager Rod Mead stated the storm may “kickstart the entire rush up into the mountains” for the Presidents Day weekend.

“The truth is it’s going to be busy because it’s always busy on Presidents Day Weekend,” Mead stated in a video update on the weekend site visitors situations. “You’ve got three days off and a chance to go skiing and people are going to take advantage of that.”

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I-70 Coalition Director Jonathan Godes stated that over the previous three years, the Presidents Day vacation has seen delays of two hours or extra, particularly when snowstorms entice skiers to the mountains for the lengthy weekend.

Last 12 months on President’s Day weekend, two back-to-back storms resulted in crashes, prolonged highway closures and site visitors jams all through the I-70 mountain hall. That weekend final 12 months included drivers disregarding closures on U.S. Highway 6’s Loveland Pass, the place a car was caught in an avalanche, and an intoxicated driver who fled regulation enforcement in Summit County onto I-70, which was already jam-packed with site visitors.

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“Memorial, Labor Day and Presidents Day are the top tier weekends of traffic and congestion on I-70 getting to the High Country,” Godes stated. “Even if this was a bluebird weekend that had no weather complications, we’d be seeing huge traffic.”

Amid what has been a record-low season for snowfall in Colorado, this snowstorm is predicted to deliver up several inches to the resorts, however may additionally end in blended precipitation at decrease elevations underneath about 9,000 toes, based on forecasters.

OpenSnow Meteorologist Sam Collentine wrote in a report for the I-70 corridor that whereas a lot of the snow is predicted to fall by Thursday afternoon, there could possibly be a brief wave of snow on Friday and icy, moist and snow-packed roads may final by way of Saturday morning.

Mead stated the transportation division can have its snowplows out in “full force” this weekend to deal with the storm, however drivers ought to count on delays because of the vacation weekend site visitors and other people “heading up to the higher elevations to enjoy some of that fresh snow.”

On Friday, Mead stated drivers ought to count on an uptick in site visitors within the morning after which an excellent larger surge that night as folks get off work. On Saturday and Sunday, he stated drivers can count on delays on westbound I-70 heading as much as the mountains from the Denver space within the morning, particularly close to Floyd Hill.

On Sunday and Monday evenings drivers can count on eastbound site visitors heading again to Denver from the mountains to pile up close to the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels, Mead stated. He famous that it is because day-trippers can be driving again to the Front Range in addition to those that stayed on the town.

“What happens normally on a President’s Day weekend is we kind of have a double Sunday,” Mead stated. “What I mean by that (is) we’ll have a certain amount of people who will come back and create some congestion especially around the Eisenhower tunnel on Sunday, and then we’ll have another report of that on Monday.”

To avoid the worst congestion on I-70, Godes recommended hitting the highway earlier than midday on Friday and earlier than 6 a.m. or after 11 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. On Monday morning, the site visitors just isn’t anticipated to be “horrific” however it’s going to worsen all through the day as folks go away the ski resorts, he stated.

Anyone driving on I-70 this weekend needs to be ready for winter driving situations and be compliant with Colorado’s passenger car traction regulation, based on the transportation division.

Drivers must also pack heat garments, snacks, water and different necessities in case they’re trapped in site visitors for hours on finish resulting from an emergency, like a semitrailer blocking the highway, Godes stated. He famous that it is usually vital to have a full tank of fuel or a totally charged battery earlier than leaving.

Godes inspired drivers to carpool to the mountain with pals or take public transportation choices just like the prepare to Winter Park or bus choices, just like the Bustang and Snowstang, to cut back congestion on the interstate.

To verify for up-to-date highway situations, drivers can go to COTrip.org or obtain the state’s COTrip Planner app.

“Just prepare for the (traffic) that we’ve all been in, because they’re not black swan events, they happen quite regularly,” Godes stated. “We forget that they happen because we just haven’t had a lot of snow this winter, but this is a weekend that is going to remind us that we live in Colorado.”