Heavy traffic is expected to slow travelers on Interstate 70 during the Labor Day weekend.
During the holiday weekend last year, 164,535 vehicles traveled through the Eisenhower Tunnel, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
Officials expect the heaviest traffic to be on I-70 from Denver to Summit County, as motorists travel to the mountains for the weekend.
The heaviest westbound traffic is expected today between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m., as motorists make their way to the mountains. Last year, 44,014 passed through the Eisenhower Tunnel on the Friday before Labor Day — 28,727 of them westbound.
The heaviest traffic for eastbound travelers is expected Monday between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. More than 28,000 vehicles traveled eastbound through the Eisenhower Tunnel on Monday during the holiday weekend last year.
In an effort to minimize delays, all construction projects will be suspended during the holiday weekend.
While traffic is expected to increase on the I-70 mountain corridor, the overall number of people traveling in Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming is expected to decrease 2.6 percent compared with the number of travelers last year, said Wave Dreher, a spokeswoman for AAA Colorado.
An estimated 2.4 million people are expected to travel in the mountain region this weekend.
Dreher said the decrease was likely because most people decided if they would travel four to six weeks ago — before gas prices started to drop.
The number of people flying is expected to drop 1.6 percent because of higher airfares.
Hotel rates in the region are up about 6 percent, but car-rental rates have decreased about 7 percent compared with the holiday weekend last year, Dreher said.
Travelers can check on traffic conditions on CDOT’s website at cotrip or by calling 511.
Jordan Steffen: 303-954-1794 or jsteffen@denverpost.com
