Transportation workers have reopened both directions of Interstate-70 near the Eisenhower Tunnel after closing it earlier in the day to remove snow.
CDOT crews triggered avalanches on both sides of the tunnel after the most recent storm dropped about 18 inches of snow in the area. Heavy winds blew more snow onto possible slide areas, said Stacey Stegman, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation.
“The risk was too great to allow traffic to run under it,” Stegman said. “That’s a significant amount of snow for that location and we are anticipating much more.”
Workers closed the eastbound lanes of the highway from Silverthorne to the tunnel and the westbound lanes from Georgetown to the tunnel at about 7 a.m.
They then fired howitzers that started avalanches. Up to 10 feet of snow fell on the highway, Stegman said.
“We know this is a big ski weekend and are doing the best we can,” Stegman said.
Fifteen-year-old snowboarder Justus Vaccarro didn’t let a 3-hour snow delay get him down Saturday morning on his way to the slopes.
He and friends from the Jubilee Fellowship Church in Lone Tree were dancing in the middle of snowpacked I-70 to rap music as state transportation crews worked to clear the road several miles west of them.
“We’re supposed to be snowboarding in Loveland, but it doesn’t look like we’re going to get there,” Vaccarro said. “We’re having a lot of fun though. Our spirits are way high.”
Crews are still working to clear roads to Loveland and through Berthoud Pass, Stegman said.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
