A multi-car crash on Interstate 70 near the Evergreen exit blocked traffic and delayed motoristis in April. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Given the choice of more asphalt or more education, a joint legislative committee Wednesday talked mostly about the cheaper option — getting the message about traction to folks who head up into the Colorado high country.
In the last session, Rep. Diane Mitsch Bush, a Democrat from Steamboat Springs, fought for a bill to bring more attention to the need for adequate traction for passenger vehicles using Interstate 70 on heavy snow days.
The bill was amended to be a study, which is what the Transportation Legislation Review Committee worked on, hearing from the State Patrol, Department of Transportation, the Interstate 70 Coalition and others Wednesday.
Other studies have indicated that when I-70 shuts down, the economic blow to state tourism is up to $1 million an hour. The state’s ski industry and hotels bear the brunt of that lost income. Motorists get the brunt on the inconvenience caused by long delays.
“I-70 closures aren’t just a safety issue,” Mitsch Bush told fellow committee members Wednesday. “It’s also an economic issue.”
She explained that her bill did not create new regulations or fines for balding tires, but would give travelers more warning about chain laws before they find themselves on slick roads, spin out and block traffic.
CDOT can issue a “Code 15” to require chains, but by that time the spin-outs and closures have already begun, she said, adding that current signs that warn “snow tires recommended” are confusing to drivers.
Margaret Bowes, program manager for the I-70 Coalition, noted projections indicate the state could grow by 47 percent by 2040.
“I think that tells us the problem won’t go away and is going to get worse until there is additional capacity on I-70,” she said, referring to the expensive proposition of enlarging the freeway through the sometimes-narrow mountain corridor.
She said until “we have significant dollars to make significant improvements,” the state needed to make incremental steps that help alleviate the costly wintertime tie-ups. No one said, specifically, what those incremental fixes should be, other than simply more education.
Rep. Tracy Kraft-Tharp, a Democrat from Arvada, said that instead of studying tire tread, the committee should studying ways to get the message about traction to the drivers who haven’t been getting it.
She said hotels, restaurants and other businesses that serve winter travelers should be the first line of information for their customers.
“I think you all can be more effective in this than we can down here at the Capitol or our troopers can sitting on the side of the interstate,” she told the businesses represented at the hearing.
CDOT already spent $350,000 last year on its “Bow to the Plow” campaign that yielded good results based on one winter of information, said Kyle Lester, CDOT’s highway maintenance division director.
Sen. Randy Baumgardner, a Republican from Hot Sulphur Springs, said it’s a question of personal responsibility for drivers.
“You can legislate common sense to people,” he said.
What legislation, if any, next year that comes out of Wednesday’s hearing should be interesting, then.
