GoI70

January 1st: The New Year’s first ski jam!

New Year’s Day hosted the season’s first traffic jam as cars headed back to the Denver metro area after a day of skiing came to a crawl through the Empire Junction area. Traffic over Vail Pass and up to the Tunnel was normal all day. Once travelers emerged from the tunnel they quickly encountered delays of around 45 minutes on the section from the Eisenhower Tunnel to Floyd Hill. Average speeds along this 40 mile section were around 25 mph and speeds through Empire Junction were around 10 miles an hour for much of the afternoon.

The morning outbound traffic moved well with delays that were less than predicted but the evening return traffic was typical for a winter holiday evening. With some more snow expected in the mountains this evening you can expect similar traffic patterns Saturday and Sunday.

The general rule of thumb should hold for the rest of the weekend: If you want to avoid the crawl back home, stay in the mountains awhile and enjoy yourself. Traffic will clear up beginning around 6pm. “Leave after 6, home by 8.” (See, “Traveling I-70 into the New Year” below for a full explanation.)