Saturday’s heavy wet snow put some areas of the Denver metro on accident alert and led the American Red Cross to open a storm shelter in Fountain for stranded travelers.
Jefferson and Douglas counties and some other parts of the metro area were on accident alert before 9 a.m. Further south, Colorado Springs and Fountain spent most of the day on accident alert.
The Colorado Department of Transportation put the state’s new traction law into effect Friday afternoon for Interstate 70 in both directions between Vail and Copper Mountain.
On Saturday afternoon, the traction law had been lifted for that stretch but was reinstated just after 9:30 p.m. It also was activated on I-70 between Golden and Georgetown, where heavier snowfall shifted in the afternoon.
The traction law requires all passenger vehicles have snow or mud/snow tires, use chains or alternative traction devices or be a four- or all-wheel-drive vehicle.
The chain law is in effect in several mountain roads as well.
Road conditions across Colorado after 5:30 p.m.
• U.S. 6 at Loveland Pass closed in both directions.
• Traction law for I-70 east and west from Golden to Georgetown and from Copper Mountain to Vail.
• Chain law for U.S. 24 east and west at Wilkerson Pass.
• U.S. 85 reopened in both directions Saturday evening at Nunn near the Wyoming border after a nearly 90-minute closure.
Yesenia Robles: 303-954-1372, yrobles@denverpost.com or @yeseniarobles
