GoI70

Sunday’s traffic snarl highlighted the role of small shifts in the weather. While there was only a small amount of snow Sunday, it hit in the late afternoon as skiers were crowding the lanes to get home. As temperatures dropped at higher altitudes, the road became icy and a series of accidents set the stage for long waits on the west approach to the Eisenhower tunnel.

The day started out clear. Traffic moved west out of Denver with few of the problems that were encountered on Saturday morning. In the afternoon skiers coming home from the slopes were well spread out until 4, so there were few problems for the early crowd headed home.

Then the temperature dropped, a bit of snow materialized and the roads became icy. This caused trouble on the approach to the Eisenhower Tunnel on the Silverthorne side. And, a load of trouble it turned out to be for those of you who sat on the long hill for well over an hour doing the creepy crawly.

It took a long time for the traffic began to clear. It started to move between 6:30 and 7pm which would have gotten folks home by 8. But, suddenly – with a slip and a slide – it was tied up tight, again. By 8:30 the west side of the tunnel was moving at half speed, but on the east side folks were stacking up as they came down the hill.

There is not much snow on the radar tonight and CDOT will have all night to work on the highway. They’ll do a good job. The travel forecast we posted earlier this week is still good for tomorrow.

Plan to get up to the mountains early on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day without too many problems. Like always, either leave the slopes early (before 2 if you want to be safe) to get home before the rush or hang around and come home when the roads are clear. “Leave after 6, home by 8,” is still a good rule. We missed it this evening, but it was a lot more comfortable waiting out the rush in town than on the hill in the dark.

Happy trails!

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