Deteriorating road conditions in the mountains are likely to cause snow removal problems for Colorado Department of Transportation crews, CDOT spokeswoman Stacey Stegman said today.
Stegman said that temperatures dipping to minus 20 in the mountains, accompanied by high winds and 4 inches of snow, are causing concerns about increased avalanche dangers along the Interstate 70 corridor over Vail Pass and into the Vail Valley.
In addition, the storm system is expected to cause avalanche problems near the Eisenhower Tunnel and over Berthoud and Loveland Passes. She said CDOT crews are watching the buildup of snow slabs carefully and may have to do avalanche mitigation work on the passes and near Vail.
Stegman said that the very cold weather and wind will make snow removal difficult. The cold weather de-icers used by the CDOT crews become less effective in extremely frigid temperatures and sand placed on the roads is often covered by blowing snow or blown off the roadway, she said.
“It is going to be challenging,” said Stegman of the adverse conditions. “It makes snow removal difficult.”
Stegman said that CDOT has a number of winter driving tips:
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
