DENVER (KDVR) — Crews were detouring traffic from eastbound Interstate 70 in Silverthorne on Sunday night as heavy snow covered the roadway, causing safety concerns.
According to the Colorado Department of Transportation, the eastbound lanes were closed between Exit 203 and Exit 205 (East Frisco and Silverthorne) as of about 5:45 p.m. The department cited multiple spun-out vehicles and said crews were working to ensure road safety before reopening it. The eastbound lanes reopened as of about 9 p.m.
All of I-70 between Vail and Idaho Springs appeared to be slow going for motorists, especially eastbound motorists headed toward Denver from the mountains. The area is also under an avalanche warning — something one driver found out first-hand when his pickup truck was pushed off the roadway by an avalanche on Loveland Pass.
CDOT noted in a release shared Thursday that President’s Day weekend is the second-busiest weekend holiday, historically, on the I-70 mountain corridor. It follows only Labor with nearly 180,804 vehicles traveling through the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels.
Monday, Feb. 19, is projected to be one of the busiest days of travel with peak times at the tunnels expected to begin at about 10 a.m. through about 3 p.m. Winter weather advisories and winter storm warnings in the mountains and along I-70 are in effect until 5 a.m. Tuesday.
FOX31 Pinpoint Weather Team Meteorologist Liz McGiffin is forecasting upward of a foot or two of snow in mountain areas, but Denver is only forecasted to receive less than an inch of snow.