Journey Ideas for Colorado’s I-70 This Vacation Season

Featured Picture: Gabe Rovick

The vacation season could be a full rollercoaster in terms of navigating the stretch of Interstate 70 identified infamously because the I-70 mountain hall. This sprawling stretch of roadway rolls by the center of Colorado, bringing skiers to the unbelievable terrain of Arapahoe Basin Ski Space, Loveland Ski Space, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain and much more. Whereas there are many horror tales and tales of crimson snakes on this stretch of highway, we guarantee you there’s a technique to keep away from all that. Listed here are FREESKIER’s coveted tips about methods to keep sane on I-70 because the New Yr approaches.

First issues first; you’ve acquired to make a plan, and it’s acquired to be achieved prematurely. This can be a no-brainer, however make sure that it’s checked off properly earlier than you toss these boots within the automotive. Roaming with no set vacation spot might be superior, and it has definitely yielded some memorable adventures for us, however we don’t advocate it over the vacations.

For climate forecasts, we desire to make use of OpenSnow. This isn’t an advert; it’s only a nice product. You’ll be able to search by particular resorts or areas, checking forecasts even 10 days out. At the moment, the climate appears clear within the coming week aside from a weak storm rolling in Tuesday, December 24 by Thursday, December 26.

I-70 Mountain Hall Communications Course Austyn Dineen instructed us that climate apart, it’s at all times finest to choose your journey time strategically even when the skies are clear.”The very best instances to journey on I-70 in the course of the holidays are early mornings (earlier than 7:00 AM) and late nights (after 9:00 PM), as these intervals usually expertise lighter site visitors,” Dineen mentioned. “Keep away from peak journey instances, corresponding to weekday afternoons (3:00 PM to 7:00 PM), Fridays, and Sunday evenings. The Snowstang shuttle bus can be an effective way to calm down on the best way to the slopes!”

Considered one of our favourite instruments to make use of when touring on I-70 is the COtrip Planner app. Dineen talked about that is her favourite of the instruments CDOT offers, noting, “[The app] makes it simpler than ever for vacationers to get fast entry to data they want earlier than they head out… highway circumstances, site visitors incidents, plow tracker, climate radar, climate alerts and chain/traction legislation layers are robotically switched on eliminating the legwork wanted to activate these standard layers.”

The app offers you entry to data that extends all through Colorado, so even when your vacation travels take you away from I-70, you might be ready. The app robotically is switched into winter mode, however it’s nonetheless value it to examine that the relevant layers, (highway circumstances, site visitors, and so forth.) are turned on. We advocate utilizing the Journey Planner characteristic, which lets you make your personal map by inputting your begin level and last vacation spot.

One of many main building tasks presently being performed on I-70 is Floyd Hill undertaking. This endeavor has been years within the making, with building formally kicking off final 12 months. The aim is to alleviate bottlenecked site visitors on this eight-mile stretch of I-70 simply east of Idaho Spring by rebuilding current infrastructure and including a 3rd westbound lane.

Together with a number of different duties, the undertaking will assemble a lacking two-mile part of the frontage highway between US 6 and the Hidden Valley/Central Metropolis Parkway interchanges and construct an prolonged on-ramp from US 6 onto eastbound I-70 for slow-moving autos to have extra room to merge. This can be a years-long endeavor, with present operations anticipated to proceed by 2026.

Within the present stage of the undertaking, groups shall be blasting from 9 AM till 3 PM (4 PM if delayed), Monday by Thursday. When work resumes within the coming weeks, we extremely advocate driving previous this part of highway between Exits 248 and Exit 241 earlier than 9 AM or after 4 PM on these days, as delays might be 45 minutes or longer.

Editor’s Be aware: The Floyd Hill building undertaking will see no blasting and thus no site visitors stops over the approaching vacation week.

Bear in mind, winter circumstances can put Colorado’s Traction Regulation in impact. From September 1 to Might 31, the Traction Regulation is at all times energetic on I-70 from Dotsero to Morrison. This legislation requires that each one motorists together with passenger autos (i.e. almost certainly the automobile you utilize to drive) to have both a 4WD or AWD automobile and three/16” tread depth, tires with a mud and snow designation (M+S icon) and three/16” tread depth, winter tires (mountain-snowflake icon) and three/16” tread depth, tires with an all-weather score by the producer and three/16” tread depth, or chains / an accepted various traction gadget.

Click on right here to study extra concerning the Traction Regulation and particular accepted various traction gadgets.

Along with every thing we’ve talked about above, CDOT’s complete journey information has loads of ideas and hyperlinks that may aid you guarantee a secure and environment friendly vacation journey. Just a few of our favourite ideas from the professionals at CDOT are:

• Keep away from the Peak Journey Instances (mid-morning and night.) If heading eastbound on Saturday or Sunday, plan to go away the mountains after 7:00 p.m. Test the weekend and vacation Journey Forecast.

• Spend a Sunday evening within the mountains and head to work or college early Monday morning.

• Create or be a part of a carpool with the TreadShare App. That is an easy-to-use useful resource and nice for assembly like-minded rippers.

As at all times, please drive rigorously and don’t get behind the wheel in case you’re drunk, drained or offended. Everybody else is attempting to get to and from the mountain safely, so depart area and don’t be afraid to let somebody merge.

Lastly, and arguably a very powerful a part of the plan, hit the guidelines earlier than you permit dwelling! Skis, boots, poles, helmet, goggles, gloves… the drill. We’ve all been there when a good friend, after driving for hours, realizes they’ve left an important piece of substances. We love having a beer within the lodge, however snowboarding is rather more enjoyable.

We hope you could have a unbelievable vacation regardless of the place you’re driving. There’s an unavoidable stress this time of 12 months with so many individuals on the go, however these instruments ought to assist get you driving and pleased with as few worries as doable.