GoI70

We believe in living our motto, “More Mountains, Less Traffic.” The best way to avoid the traffic on I-70 is to get up to the mountains early or stay overnight on Sunday. To help you take advantage of the best travel times we are highlighting several lodging deals that make a last minute stay on Sunday a bit easier and cheaper.

Traffic on I70 is predictable. Friday afternoon and Saturday morning the westbound traffic builds and slows down. The biggest jams are on Sunday or – if it is a holiday – Monday as weekend travelers return to the Denver area. Most of us are familiar with tales of winter traffic jams on I-70, but traffic in the summer months can be even heavier and slower than the winter ski traffic. Take advantage of the two special offers below, avoid the crawl and spend your time in the clear mountain air.

Stay Over in Vail Sundays

Extend your weekend fun in Vail with extra savings on lodging. Stay Sunday nights beginning at $93. Relax and enjoy Sunday’s free Farmers’ Market & Art Show and incredible dining offers while everyone else fights the traffic home.

Stay Sunday night with Wildernest Lodging

Wildernest Lodging has properties for rent throughout Summit County. Stay over on a Sunday night and receive 30% off your 3 night stay*.  Use code I70 when booking the room. There are some standard restrictions and the offer is not valid during holiday or spring break periods. You can check this all out and make reservations at www.wildernest.com.

Make a Bid for Accommodations in Breckenridge

If you are making that last minute decision to stay over on Sunday, Breckenridge Accommodations allows you to bid on available rooms at http://breckaccommodations.com/property_bid.cfm

GoI70 is a year round operation. Our website is always available to give you a complete look at travel along I-70 and the multitude of things you can do when you stop along the highway. We will be adding more deals as the summer goes on.

Remember, you can visit our mobile site – http://goI70.com/mobile – from almost anywhere on I-70.  Get the latest updates on conditions along the highway, check current travel times, read our blog and view CDOT’s highway cams on your phone.

Happy Trails!

If you are still up in the Colorado mountains Monday morning, July 5th, you can expect very heavy traffic on your way back to the Denver metro area. This year’s 4th of July holiday travelers were late to start heading west and, it appears they will be coming home Monday. The usual Sunday eastbound traffic jam never developed this year; indeed the highway ran smoothly all day.

Since plenty of folks made the trip west Friday and Saturday, it is a fair bet that the traffic patterns we predicted for Sunday will appear on Monday afternoon. What goes up, will come down.

Obviously we missed the call about the Sunday eastbound traffic. The Monday official holiday seems to be almost universally honored this year. We weren’t expecting this. Indeed travelers seemed to have take a more laid back approach to their outings this 4th. They started out later on Friday than in any recent year . I-70 was jammed Saturday as well which is something we had not seen in previous data. Still, the fundamentals are simple – lots of folks went west Friday and Saturday and most of them will be heading back Monday.

So if you want to avoid the heavy delays eastbound, your best bet is to leave before 10 or after 7 or perhaps later. Keep an eye on the highway from your phone on the GoI70/mobile site http://goI70.com/mobile. We’ll be carrying up to the minute information about highway conditions, traffic cams and travel times.  Have a safe trip.

Mud season is over! The July 4th weekend is the beginning of summer along I-70. The snow is quickly melting off the mountain peaks. The season of music and sports in the high country is just around the corner. CDOT has been busy getting I-70 ready for the parade of hikers, picnickers, festival goers and sightseers.

You are not the only one excited about the beginning of summer. If you are traveling west mid-day Friday or east Sunday you will have plenty of company.  While every year is somewhat different, we think you can expect very heavy traffic – and very slow travel times – during the peak hours in 2010. The 4th of July is the beginning of a very predictable pattern of peak traffic on I-70: slow westbound on Friday and slower yet eastbound Sunday.

The AAA is predicting that this year will see a 20% increase in the number of travelers heading to the Colorado mountains. Last year was a heavy year for travel through the Eisenhower tunnel over the 4th of July holiday; a 20% increase would put an unprecedented number of people on the road.

The rush to the mountains will begin by mid-morning Friday, July 2nd. Based on recent experience, the trip from Denver to Vail will slow to an average speed of 45 mph by 11 am and drop to almost 30 mph by noon. In practice that means, a whole lot of jarring stop and go driving.

Get out of town well before 10 am if you want to get across the Continental divide at highway speeds. The westbound crunch should begin to let up by late afternoon with speeds returning to normal by 6 pm.

The return trip to the Denver metro area on Sunday will try the patience of even the Saints among you. Once again travel times will slow rapidly between 10 am and noon. By noon the 1 hour 20 minute trip from Vail to Denver will take twice as long. In 2008, delays of 2 hours lasted from 1 pm until 4 pm. Historically, traffic does not fully returned to highway speeds until 7 or 8 pm.

If you must travel at the peak hours, be prepared for long queues from Silverthorne to the Eisenhower Tunnel, a crawl through Empire Junction and herky-jerky, stop and go through Idaho Springs.

Be prepared and be patient! If you are tired or hungry you won’t miss much by stopping to visit. By the time you have rested and eaten the highway will be moving just a little faster.

Better yet, get out early or stay late.

This week’s late winter blast is a good reminder that traveling in the Colorado mountains is always an adventure. While we haven’t been doing our weekly travel forecasts since the end of the March and the end of the ski season, GoI70 is always here at your fingertips with the latest information about weather conditions and the status of the highway. As with any adventure it will go more smoothly if you know what you are up against. So don’t forget to check the many different sources of information that we collect for you:

The GoI70 Map – Use it to explore the mountains! And, of course we always show the current status of I-70 with alerts and speeds from the Colorado Department of Transportation and Google;

Messages – incorporates highway alerts and our social network including recent updates from travelers along the highway;

Trip Planning– gives the most recent highway speeds by highway segment and allows you to see the travel times from the comparable travel day in the previous year;

Weather – combines a variety of overlays for current weather conditions and radar mapping and links to specialized weather pages. For those of you who are still out there snowshoe or skiing the backcountry, you can keep up with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

GoI70 Summer Edition

It is mud season now but we are busy getting ready for summer. We’ll be rolling out some new features that should make your summer trip to the mountains smarter and more fun. Stay tuned.

Saturday morning update: Expect longer than usual delays westbound on I-70 this Saturday morning due to the convergence of weather and human scheduling. Snow continued into the wee hours Friday night on the east side of the divide and while it should clear in the morning icy, slushy driving conditions will persist. The very fresh snow will draw skiers in large numbers. They will be joined by a large wave of Spring Break vacationers who, after wisely delaying their Friday departures, will be hitting the highway all in a hurry. Plan for winter driving conditions and lots of company.

Original post: We are in the middle of a month of travel spurred by the traditional spring break taken by colleges and school districts across Colorado and the nation. Travelers along I-70 will encounter somewhat unusual travel patterns for the next two or three weeks.

Based on recent experience, there will be a greater than usual westbound delay on Saturday which will hit later in the morning. There will, also, probably be a short early morning rush hour on Friday and heavy volumeFriday evening. The eastbound rush hour on Sunday will begin in the mid-morning rather than after 2pm. Traffic will be heavy all day Sunday. Finally, the impacted region of the highway will extend west past Vail as many travelers will be heading to destinations like Fruita, Moab or San Francisco.

If you are traveling west of Vail, remember that there is a several mile long stretch of two-lane routing around the rock slide damage between Dotsero and Glenwood Springs.  There is a 40 mph speed limit through this alternative route and a 14 ft width limit. At peak travel times on the weekends, travelers should expect delays through this section.

Because school districts and colleges stagger the dates for Spring Break there is a new pulse of vacationers from different locals each week. The season for Colorado schools began this past week when DU, CSU, Douglas Schools and Denver Public Schools all went on break. This coming week the University of Colorado and Metro State along with school districts in Boulder and Adams County will be on break. The state’s largest district, Jefferson County Public Schools and the Saint Vrain Valley School District go on vacation March 29 along with a number of private schools. There are, also, a wide variety of starting dates for school districts and colleges across the country, whose students and families come to spend their time in the Colorado mountains.

Spring break brings many far-flung, inexperienced travelers to the mountain highways. This can become a complicating factor when bad weather hits the rush hour traffic. Take extra care for your fellow travelers, you can’t count on them being as familiar with mountain driving as you are.

Traffic on the alternative alignment, courtesy CDOT

I-70 was reopened a bit after 3 pm Thursday afternoon after being closed for more than 3 days by a major rockslide. Travelers began traversing the 1.5 mile temporary alignment just east of Glenwood Springs which runs one lane in each direction over the eastbound lanes. Travelers are restricted to 40 MPH and loads wider than 14 feet are prohibited over the alternative alignment, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.

Good luck folks. Take it easy.

Photo courtesy of Colorado Department of Transportation

Thursday Morning Update: CDOT reports that they are preparing the road for opening, clearing snow and new debris from Wednesday’s blasting.  “Crews have already set up traffic control cones/barrels and signage on the Interstate so that when repairs are complete, the highway can open quickly. We will send notice as soon as a re-open time is set today.”

Late Evening Update: Just in time for the 9 o’clock news, the Colorado Department of Transportation declares, “The good news is that one lane of eastbound and westbound I-70 will reopen by the end of the day tomorrow.” Apparently, their geologists did have time to inspect the rock mitigation work done late in the day and they are “very satisfied with the work.” CDOT now believes that no further mitigation work will be required Thursday. In the morning crews will finish cleanup, drainage work and final pavement repair.

Be patient people, that’s one lane in each direction and three days of delayed travel along a busy section of highway. Travelers will be able to get through but it isn’t going to be full speed ahead. Plan for the potential of long queues and slow travel for the two lane detour.

Original Post: I 70 remains closed to traffic Wednesday night. The Colorado Department of Transportation says that two lanes of the highway are almost ready to carry traffic but they can’t vouch for the slope above. Work continues in the morning. The department assures the public, “CDOT will make every effort to reopen tomorrow.”

CDOT crews worked throughout the day to prepare a large area of loose rock for blasting and scaling. Apparently, the blast went off according to plan around 6 pm, but night came in before crews could climb back into the area and inspect the evening’s work. In the morning the scaling crew will climb back up the 900 foot slope to verify whether the slope is stable or, in the alternative, to begin work again. The highway will remain closed until the slope inspection is positive.

When the road is opened, the lanes farthest from the mountain which suffered the least damage will carry one lane of traffic in each direction. CDOT’s text messages and press communications have a slightly harried sound to them late this afternoon. The agency is acutely aware that the road usually carries 20,000 vehicles a day and that vacationers, truckers and commuters have only round-about & mountainous alternatives to the direct and convenient interstate arrow through the heart of the Colorado Rockies. They promise, “Be assured we will send an update as soon as we begin any procedures to open a lane.”

Stay tuned, folks.

Photo courtesy of Colorado Department of Transportation

Update at 4:10 pm: CDOT worked through the morning and most of the afternoon preparing a large area of loose rock for blasting and scaling. The agency says that the blasting is scheduled to be done by 5 pm. After the rock is cleared, they will assess any further damage to the road and then announce a timeline for opening the eastbound lanes of the highway to two way traffic. Stay tuned.

Original Post: I-70 remained closed Tuesday between Glenwood Springs and Dotsero while CDOT crews cleaned debris from the roadway and another group worked to dislodge loose rock on a steep slope almost 1000 feet above the highway. Around 8 pm Tuesday, CDOT sent out word that they have suspended the rockfall mitigation for the night. And, to the disappointment of many, there is “still no ETA for I-70 (to) reopen.” We’ll take the liberty of restating this rather terse statement as follows, “We don’t know when we can open the road; this is a real mess.”

According to CDOT late Tuesday night, the plan is to complete the rock mitigation and then repair the eastbound lanes so that traffic can be routed one lane in each direction along the less damaged part of the highway. CDOT isn’t saying yet, but based on past experience and the extent of the damage to the westbound lanes, it could be a matter of months before the highway is returned to full 4 lane travel.

How do You Get from A to B?

Meanwhile, the search for the best alternative route goes on for the 20,000 travelers who cross this section of highway every day. We want to say a word of caution to those of you who are considering taking an alternate route from the Front Range to Grand Junction or vice versa. A careful look at the National Weather Service forecasts and the current weather radar are just as essential to picking the right route as is a good map.

All the alternative roads are primarily two lane mountain highways. They go over very steep terrain and can be challenging driving for even the most experienced motorists. There will be heavy traffic from the many motorists and truckers who are inconvenienced by the Glenwood Canyon closure.

Finally, it is winter! A sunny afternoon can turn into a vicious evening squall in a matter of minutes. Check your tires; take some blankets and food; know where you are going.

The Northern Alternatives

For those who are making the trip from the Front Range to Grand Junction there are two possible northern routes which add around 3 hours – plus or minus – to the trip.  The two alternative routes combine CO13 from Rifle to Craig on the west junction with I-70, US40 from Craig to Kremmling and, either, CO9 to Silverthorne or US40 to Empire Junction at the east end of the detour.

Locals and other experts will debate which of the two routes is best, but there is no clear cut answer. Weather and the time and day of the trip will play a huge role in determining how long it takes along the two alternate routes. If it is snowing on the Continental Divide or travelers are on the highway during the weekend peak ski traffic, then taking US40 to or from Empire Junction will avoid the sometimes long delays up to and down from the Eisenhower Tunnel. If the roads are clear and I-70 is not at capacity, then the route through Silverthorne avoids Berthoud Pass and puts more miles on the Interstate at cruising speed.

The Southern Alternatives

The southern detour offers even more possibilities depending on where the traveler is headed. Once again there is a single end point at western end of the trip – whether that is the beginning or end of the trip. US50 runs from Grand Junction over Monarch Pass to Poncha Springs (near Salida) where the traveler has a variety of choices to make. From Poncha Springs, travelers can rejoin I-70 at Vail by following US285 north to US24  through Leadville, or at Frisco by following US285 to CO9. Or, they can go directly into Denver on US285 through South Park, to Colorado Springs by linking US285 to US24 east or Pueblo by continuing on US50.

The southern route from Denver to Grand Junction is a bit shorter than the the northern route, but that only tells a part of the story. In the past month, these roads have seen heavy snows and frequent road closures. Monarch Pass has been closed off and on because of weather, avalanche danger and multiple car accidents during the past two days following the rock fall in Glenwood Canyon. If it is snowing on the southern routes, the distance of the trip is the least important factor in choosing your way.

I-70 is a Local Road

Finally, I-70 serves as Main Street for the the scores of mountain communities along its way. For the many people who use the highway to commute from points west of Glenwood Springs to work in the businesses around Beaver Creek, Vail and Copper Mountain or who travel from points east to work in the Roaring Fork Valley, their regular hour long commutes have suddenly become epic journeys. There just aren’t any easy back road workarounds. Our sympathies go out to the working stiffs, as well as to the cross country voyagers.

Day skiers looking to meet up with friends or catch a carpool to the mountains can use the Dinosaur Lots  just off I-70 at Exit 259, the intersection of Morrison Road. They are convenient, easy to find and free.

Carpoolers with four or more riders qualify for free premier parking at Keystone or discounted lift tickets at A-Basin. The Dinosaur Lots have a lively meet up scene on weekends and holidays. It is a great place to pick up an extra rider to fill up your car.

The Dinosaur Lots are perfect for meeting people coming from any part of the metro area. They are located right at the mouth of Mount Vernon Canyon where I-70 enters the foothills. (Click here to find the Dinosaur Lots on the GoI70 map.) If you are going up I-70 you pass right by it.

The largest of the lots is the Wooly Mammoth which has 1181 free spots where day trippers can park to meet up with friends or catch a ride with someone headed their way. Wooly Mammoth is just west of Morrison Road at the intersection of US 40/State Highway 26 and I-70.

For folks coming through Golden, either west on Colfax or from the north – Westminster or Boulder – just follow US 40, turning right at the intersection immediately before the west on-ramp to I-70. The entrance to the Wooly Mammoth lot is 200 yards from the intersection.

Two smaller lots – the T-Rex and the Stegosaurus – are near by on the east side of US 40 and Morrison Road (State Highway 26). They provide several hundred more spaces. T-Rex can be seen on your right as you come off the ramp from West I-70 at Exit 259. The Stegosaurus lot is south on the Morrison Road just under the I-70 overpass.

This is a great resource provided by the Colorado Department of Transportation. Take advantage of it today. Save gas, save some money and meet up with someone to share the ride.

Discounts and Free Parking for Carpools

Carpoolers can take advantage of discounted lift tickets at A-Basin for anyone who arrives in a car with four or more passengers. Just take your carpool members to the ticket window to get $47 lift tickets, a $17 discount. More information is here.

Keystone offers free close-in premier parking at their Montezuma Lot for vehicles with four or more passengers. For more information check here.

Later in the season Copper Mountain offers Carpool Celebration Days. We’ll let you know about those in the weeks to come.

GoI70.com has a new mobile app to use on the road or on the slopes. We have stripped out the fat – it is much faster – and built up the features – now you can see traffic cams, ski reports and our blog, as well as having a quick reference to current traffic speeds and the GoI70 social network.

New Mobile App

The new app works for all kinds of phones – regular cell phones as well as all types of smart phones. Get your phone and take a look at it at http://goI70.com/mobile

In the weeks to come we will be adding extra features including suggestions for things to do in the towns and resorts along the corridor and favorite places for sitting out the traffic. Let us know what you would like to see by posting a comment below.

It is easier than ever to join in the conversation on our social network. We’ve made the mobile sign-up a little cleaner and faster. You can speed the process by registering at your computer on the website under the Messages tab. Learn more about the social network and our jackrabbits at our help pages.

We will be giving out four $25 gift certificates to the Dillon Dam Brewery for the best posts this month, so don’t be shy. Tell us about today’s trip – whether it is your observation about the highway, the slopes or towns. We want to know.

Guess the Mess is GoI70’s first big-time prize contest and educational game. The rules for playing and winning are set out in detail here. Just post your best guess for the extent and timing of the Sunday peak traffic delay to the GoI70 Messages network either on your computer or your mobile phone.

Smart contestants will want to know the ebb and flow of traffic on I-70. Since we want everyone to have a fair chance, this post will tell you what you need to know to make a smart guess. The prizes are terrific – two pair of lift tickets to Arapahoe Basin and Copper Mountain- and the competition will be hot, read carefully!

Guess the Mess allows you I-70 lovers (and haters) a chance to demonstrate your traffic insight and traveler’s savvy. To win you must predict the extent and timing of the traffic delay at the Sunday eastbound peak along the I-70 corridor from Vail to Morrison. By identifying the height of the jam on Sunday, you will also know the best time to be off the highway, enjoying dinner or shopping in our mountain towns.

I-70 Traffic is Predictable

The flow of peak hour traffic on I-70 is predictable. If the roads are clear and nobody runs into the median while texting his current position, then the the highway begins to fill up around 2 pm and very soon each extra car causes highway speeds to drop.

There are several key points where traffic slows first – the approach to the Eisenhower Tunnel, the bottom of Georgetown hill thru Empire Junction and the narrow turns through Idaho Springs. Speeds on Vail Pass tend to depend as much on the current weather conditions as on the volume of cars. You can watch these spots in near real time on the GoI70 Travel Planning tab or on the GoI70 mobile app at http://goI70.com/mobile.

Presidents Day Traffic

Last Monday was Presidents Day and it is a good example of what to expect this Sunday. The Y axis shows the additional time that it would take someone leaving Vail at the time found along the X axis. The delay is calculated as the traveler makes the 82 mile, 1 hour and 20 minute trip back to Denver’s western gateway.

Put another way the worst moment to leave Vail would have been at 4:15 when your travel time would have been an extra 66 minutes. That’s time enough for dinner and by 6 the delay was only a few minutes.
No, we are not picking on Vail. We just have good data from Colorado Department of Transportation for that trip. Since most of the delay was between Silverthorne and the Twin Tunnels, travelers from all the resorts experienced similar delays. Skipping over Loveland Pass was no answer either – a small avalanche put a stop to that short cut Monday. These are all classic Sunday and holiday traffic dynamics.

A Quick History

The snow was great Sunday, February 22, 2009; the ride home was long.

One more, here is what happened the year before as a Pacific storm came in during the afternoon.

A Few Conclusions

These three examples give a very nice picture of the normal range of traffic delays that might happen this coming Sunday.

1. The slowdown will begin between 2 and 4 pm.
2. The onset is rapid – the highway gets slow in a hurry.
3. The peak comes between 3:30 and 5, unless something happens on the highway.
4. Weather matters. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot.

Simple, eh! Now check the weather, add your own insight and make a guess. Will the highway be faster or slower than Presidents Day? February 22, 2009? February 24, 2008? What time will it peak? Guess the Mess and have a great day in the mountains.

Traffic Data Courtesy CDOT, processing by Western Analytics

GoI70’s good friend and stellar Jackrabbit Sean caught the weekend in a haiku at 4:27 Sunday afternoon,

Basho by Kinkoku

Blows through the stop-sign,
Flies up the ramp at sixty five,
Walls of cars mock him.

Dig it. If you were on I-70 at that moment you understood.

The weekend of February 20th & 21st provided a good look at what happens when the irresistible force  – new snow on the slopes/time to get home – meets the immovable object – that would be the line of stopped cars just ahead. If you had started out from any of the resorts after a fine afternoon of new snow, you were looking at more than 3 hours of grind for an 1 hour and 20 minute trip. We’ll have a weekend recap up a little later.

If you are checking in to follow up on our 1st Guess the Mess contest, be patient. Peak delay for Sunday was 141 minutes at 4:42 pm. Most of the entrants were very low, but – hey – this is like horseshoes: close counts. We are checking the entries on email and the Messages network, then we will contact the winners and as soon as we have verified their eligibility. We will post the winners right here. Meanwhile you can start studying up for our next contest this weekend. More prizes, more competition.

We asked Bob Wilson, the Public Relations Manager for the Colorado Department of Transportation, what most seemed to be on people’s mind this season. Without missing a beat he replied, “People want to know why we meter the Eisenhower Tunnel.”  GoI70 and COTRIP – CDOT’s excellent web site – will let you know when there is metering. Here is Bob Wilson’s explanation and some advice on what to do when CDOT is metering the tunnel. Read it and head it.

If you’ve driven Interstate 70 over the last few weekends, you’ve probably noticed there’s been an uptick in traffic along the corridor.  This isn’t surprising since the ski season is kicking into high gear.  However, the heavier traffic, especially eastbound on Sunday afternoons, has required the Colorado Department of Transportation to occasionally stop eastbound traffic at the Eisenhower Tunnel. These stops have been occurring for nearly 20 years but recently, we’ve been getting more questions than usual on why we’re doing it.  Good question with a simple answer that’s not always apparent: we do it for safety.

When we stop vehicles from entering the tunnel, it’s known as metering.  It usually occurs on eastbound I-70, right before you enter the west portal of the tunnel.  We meter when traffic volumes exceed the capacity of the corridor, or when there’s an accident or bad weather causes traffic to back up – or all of those things are occurring at once.  By stopping vehicles from entering the tunnel, it allows the existing back-ups inside of the tunnel to clear out.  Those stops usually last about 15 to 20 minutes because that’s about how long it usually takes to clear traffic from the tunnel.

The tipping point occurs when half the tunnel, about one mile, is at a dead stop.  That’s when we need the existing traffic to clear.  Inside the tunnel, there are only two lanes, no pull-outs or any shoulders.  On top of that, the vehicles are tightly wedged together.  All of that adds up to gridlock.  So if there’s a medical emergency, a fire (vehicle or otherwise), or some other problem in the tunnel or just outside of it, CDOT or some other entity, like the Colorado State Patrol, wouldn’t be able to respond.  Safety is CDOT’s first priority so we can’t let those types of conditions occur.

We also stop traffic – both eastbound and westbound – for other reasons as well.  Trucks carrying hazardous materials aren’t allowed to travel through the tunnel and must use Loveland Pass.  But adverse winter weather frequently closes the pass, requiring hazmat vehicles to travel through the tunnel.  CDOT does not allow hazmat to travel through the tunnel with other vehicles, again for safety.  So, usually at the top of the hour, we escort waiting hazmat loads through the tunnel.  Those closures usually last about 15 minutes.

As we move into March, which usually means more traffic due to additional snow and spring break, eastbound drivers should expect more metering on the weekends, primarily in the afternoon and usually on Sundays.  But please remember, tunnel metering can take place on eastbound and/or westbound I-70 at any time, for accidents, or for daytime avalanche control work.

You can call 511 from your cell phone or check our www.cotrip.org Web site – the information will be on the left side of the home page, under “Travel Alerts.”  We’ll also use the big electronic sign boards on I-70, and along Highways 6 and 9 to let drivers know when we’re metering.

Finally, be prepared before you head up to the tunnel.  If we’re metering, please stop in one of the Summit County towns and hit the restroom (especially if you have little ones with you), eat if you’re hungry and gas up your vehicle if it’s running low.  After you leave Silverthorne, the next services aren’t until the Georgetown area – 25 miles of no go, no fuel, and no food – but more frustration than you need as you finish off your day in Colorado’s high country.

Update: Geologists who inspected the canyon wall above the rockfall have determined that mitigation is needed before I-70 can be opened. The extent of the work required and the schedule will be determined Tuesday morning. Meanwhile CDOT crews working below the unstable rock managed to break up about half of the 20 boulders that litter the roadway. This is likely to take some time.

Original Post: Around midnight, the mountain came tumbling down and landed smack on the highway along one of the steepest stretches of I-70 in Glenwood Canyon. The highway is closed in both directions as the CDOT engineers clear the boulders from the roadway and assess the damage to the highway. According to CDOT, “I-70 is not expected to open anytime soon.”

That’s not a very specific timeline but take a look at the pictures from the scene. The boulders punched at least one hole in the roadway, smashed guard rails and median barriers in a area where the elevated highway is tight against the canyon walls. It will take some time to move the rock and fix the multiple  sections of damaged roadway. In 2004, a similar rock slide kept the road completely closed for more than 24 hours; repairs took several months. In that slide, only the east side of the highway was damaged. Last night, both sides took a hit.

CDOT estimates that the largest of the 20 boulders is “66 tons.” So we will all wait a while until they can figure out what’s under it and what it takes to patch multiple “holes and dips” in the roadway. The westbound lane being the closest to the mountain took the hardest hit with one hole measuring 20 by 10 feet. The eastbound lane has a hole measuring 6 by 6 feet. Both lanes have multiple “dips” and areas that have rock embedded in the road.

Meanwhile, up above the road there is still a mountain of rock which needs to be inspected before anyone goes sailing down the highway. CDOT is sending several geologists up to take a look but it is a 2 hour hike up the cliff side to the area that broke away.

So if you are headed to Utah for an early spring break or coming home to Denver from Grand Junction you should plan on taking some extra time for your trip. The recommended detour headed west is to take US40 from Empire Junction to Steamboat and on to Craig, then SH13 through Meeker to rejoin I-70 at Rifle. (Or, going east, north on SH13 at Rifle to US40 at Craig then to Empire Junction and I-70.) According to Google search, this adds 105 miles and more than 3 hours to the trip. It is a beautiful ride but these are two lane mountain highways that go slowly through a series of small towns and have many tight turns and steep hills without passing lanes. Count on taking your time or book a seat on a train or plane.

For a while on Monday CDOT was telling people they could head south along US50, 160 and 285, especially if they were headed to a southern destination. Then they closed Monarch Pass on US50 due to heavy weather and multiple accidents. This is a good route if the weather is good and it is a bit shorter. But, it was snowing down south Monday; it is clear in the north. A traveler would be well advised to check the weather anytime before they set out across this southern route. Sometimes it is just better to wait it out, folks.

Guess the Mess returns this Sunday! Test your knowledge of the driving conditions on I-70 and calculate the effects of weather on the trip home to Denver from a day in the mountains. Guess the time and extent of the greatest delay during eastbound rush hour on Sunday, March 14th.

The guess closest to the time of peak delay will win a pair of lift tickets to Copper Mountain. Four runner up prizes include 2 passes to the Vail Parking Garage, and 2 pair of Teko ski socks.

It is as easy as making a guess and sending a text message or an email. You can enter from your phone or your computer. Here is the short version of how to play Guess the Mess. And for those of you interested in all the details, they are here. (DON’T try to enter by leaving us a comment below this post. If you do that we don’t have anyway to get a hold of you.)

Hint: We’ve been playing Guess the Mess for several weeks now and it is clear that the winning players have read our earlier blog posts on How to Win Guess the Mess.  Good luck!