Treacherous traveling in hills causes crashes

Spring-break motorists face clogged roads REAL ESTATE:

Drivers traversing the state’s mountain roads this weekend can expect scenic views of snow-adorned trees lining miles and miles of blazing-red brake lights.

The combination of poor road conditions and droves of spring breakers is expected to make the mountain commute difficult, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.

On Friday, crashes caused intermittent closures on both lanes of Interstate 70 near Vail Pass.

Details about the number of crashes or any potential injuries were not immediately available.

Snow was making the roads wet and slushy with snowpacked conditions at higher elevations near Vail and Copper Mountain.

Even when the storm moves beyond the mountains, heavy traffic is still expected.

“The interstate’s road surface should become dry and clear up for Saturday and Sunday,” CDOT I-70 operations manager Patrick Chavez said.

“Spring breakers, both out-of-state and local, will certainly have an impact on traffic volumes, especially during peak commuting hours when vehicles are heading west to ski areas in the morning, and then in the evening when they’re headed east back home.”

Weekend travelers should also expect “safety metering,” which alternates stoplight cycles when traffic volume piles up near the Eisenhower Tunnel.

Such metering is an attempt to control traffic flow, reduce crashes and keep the tunnel open for any emergency vehicles.

“While drivers may be stopped an average of 20 minutes with continuousflow safety metering, the actual delay for total travel time is only around 3 to 5 minutes,” according to a CDOT news release.

“This is because eastbound traffic on the other side of the Eisenhower Tunnel is still moving slowly and cars usually quickly catch up with the flow of traffic.”