A wet storm left roads slick and icy throughout the state Sunday, with local police and the Colorado State Patrol responding to multiple traffic accidents and leaving prospects for a troublesome rush hour this morning.
Denver police closed Quebec Street at Interstate 70 for a short time while they cleaned up several accidents, spokesman Sonny Jackson said. It was reopened about 9 p.m.
Jackson said roads all across the city were “extremely slick,” and the city was on accident alert, as were other jurisdictions in the metropolitan area.
“There is not a lot of snow, but the roads are extremely icy,” he said. “If it doesn’t warm up, it’s going to be a rough rush hour. It’s a thin sheet of ice … pretty much all over the city.”
The State Patrol was dealing with multiple-vehicle traffic accidents all across the state, Trooper Eric Wynn said.
“The call center in Denver has been very busy,” Wynn said. “Some people are driving too fast for conditions. They need to adjust their speed earlier.”
Patty Weiss, spokeswoman for the Denver Public Works Department, said a full complement of 70 city snowplows would be out all night plowing where needed and putting down ice slicer and magnesium chloride.
With the snow expected to end by midnight Sunday and hours to work on the roads before rush hour, Weiss was optimistic.
“Hopefully the rush hour will go smoothly,” she said.
But, she said, commuters should prepare for a slow trip to work this morning and allow extra time.
Stacey Stegman, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation, said the icing started about 6 p.m., but by 9 p.m. conditions were improving.
She said a multiple-car accident involving a jackknifed 18-wheeler near the Hanging Lake exit on I-70 in Glenwood Canyon closed westbound lanes for a while.
The National Weather Service forecast an overnight low of 18 degrees.
“It definitely would be a good idea to give yourself a little extra time in the morning,” Stegman said.
Staff writer Jim Kirksey can be reached at 303-820-1448 or jkirksey@denverpost.com.
