Don’t pack away your ice scrapers just yet.
A storm poised to hit the Denver metro area starting Friday and continuing through Monday has state and local agencies dusting off their plows and prepping the roads for up to 14 inches of snow.
“We are prepared for anything the storm might bring,” said Amy Ford,director of communications for the Colorado Department of Transportation.
CDOT maintenance crews will be prepared to begin clearing roads in alternating 12-hour shifts in the metro area at 3 p.m. Friday. The agency will enlist its full fleet of 100 plows in Denver and roughly 40 plows in the mountains.
CDOT will deploy plows as needed throughout the state and has about 650 available:
• Denver-area: 100 plows
• Northeastern Colorado: 175 plows
• Southeastern Colorado: 160 plows
• Southwestern Colorado: 50 plows
• San Luis Valley/Lower Arkansas Valley: 50 plows
• West Central Colorado: 78 plows
• Northwestern Colorado: 36 plows
Ford said mountain travelers should check the tread on their tires before heading out. Across the state, drivers should expect road closures. Ford urged commuters to check before setting out. She said in the past, drivers have been stuck in their cars for hours before roads open up.
“That’s a challenge we ran into with the last blizzard,” she said. “If you see closures going into place, get to a place where you can pull over with amenities rather than waiting on the highway.”
Drivers can track the location of CDOT’s snow plows using the agency’s . The system shows the current location, travel speed and trajectory of CDOT’s fleet.
The storm will get off to a soggy start on Friday afternoon, the e said. Ford noted the moisture could lead to flash-flooding in the southern and eastern parts of the state.
Denver has its own army of 70 large plows that Public Works officials said will be deployed on main streets once snow starts to accumulate. City officials will decide whether to send out Denver’s fleet of light-duty plows for residential streets sometime Saturday. Officials will make that call based on current weather conditions, snow accumulation and the latest forecasts.
The light-duty plows work best when there’s an accumulation of at least four inches of snow, said Nancy Kuhn, a Public Works spokesperson.
“We’re going to deploy if it makes sense to do so or if we think it’ll make an impact,” she said. “We’ve got our crews ready to go.”
Boulder Public Works officials are also tracking the storm.
“Right now, the city is actively monitoring weather conditions, as well as road and ground temperatures,” said Deanna Kamhi,a Public Works spokesperson.
Maintenance crews will dispatch 15 plows to clear streets in 12-hour shifts starting at 3 a.m. Saturday. Boulder has an additional truck on deck to respond to requests from the community and public safety personnel. The agency also is monitoring stream levels in case of flooding.
Katy Canada: 303-954-1043, kcanada@denverpost.com or @KatySusanna
