VAIL, Colo.—Colorado officials are looking for businesses to install road-gripping tire chains on big trucks before they head up treacherous mountain sections of Interstate 70 during winter storms.
The Colorado Department of Transportation hopes the service will reduce accidents that force I-70 to shut down.
I-70 is the state’s main east-west highway. It crosses Vail Pass at 10,600 feet above sea level and threads the Eisenhower Tunnel at more than 11,000 feet.
State law allows highway officials to require chains in bad conditions. But Bernie Guevara, a CDOT traffic engineer, says some truckers don’t know how to install chains and others don’t even carry them.
Guevara says truckers would pay for the chain-up service, the state wouldn’t be out any money.
