If ever the maxim “Better safe than sorry” applied, it was on Interstate 70 last weekend.
Colorado Department of Transportation officials closed the highway Saturday morning around the Eisenhower Tunnel so they could try to trigger controlled avalanches to bring down any unstable snow buildups that were threatening the heavily traveled route to Colorado’s most popular ski resorts.
The precautions and cleanup kept the highway closed for hours in what would have been a peak traffic period. At one point, vehicles backed up for 25 miles. Many motorists gave up at Floyd Hill, turning back to Denver. Others, alerted by broadcast reports of the tie-up, made other plans for their Saturday recreation.
The immediate result was to depress business on the opening day of the three-day Presidents Day weekend, normally one of the busiest skiing weekends of the year. CDOT estimates the ski industry loses $800,000 in potential earnings for every hour the highway is closed.
When the highway reopened Saturday afternoon, traffic resumed and resorts reported packed crowds Sunday and Monday.
If some of the motorists caught in Saturday’s traffic jams were understandably irritated, their mood surely changed Sunday as news arrived of deadly avalanches that killed six people in Montana, Utah and Idaho .
Two snowmobilers were killed in an avalanche in Montana’s Big Belt Mountains; two more snowmobilers died in Utah in separate avalanches Saturday; and a 17- year-old skier from Massachusetts was killed in yet a third Utah avalanche. Idaho authorities confirmed the death of the sixth victim in an avalanche near Palisade Peak.
None of the fatalities involved motorists on highways, but the incidents proved just how deadly avalanches can be. Imagine the carnage such a monster snowslide could cause smashing into a crowded highway. That didn’t happen, because of the foresight and skill of CDOT’s avalanche watchers.
Thus, the patience and understanding shown by most of Saturday’s stalled motorists was rewarded with a weekend skiing experience that was as safe as it was exciting.
