Posted on 11/05/2017 1:11:03 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
In the winter, when Interstate 70 shuts down at exit 205 due to car crashes or a deluge of snow, Silverthorne police chief John Minor gives his officers the same piece of advice: “You better have your head on a swivel and your head in the game, because it’s about to get a little sporty.”
For the officers and state patrollers who ride herd over the chaotic cattle drive of cars and semis during an interstate evacuation, being on high alert means the difference between life and death.
“If you’re actually on the interstate staffing that closure just before the bridge,” Minor said, “it’s probably one of the most dangerous things you’ll ever do in your life.”
Stationed on icy, wind-chilled roadway, officers do their best not to get run over or freeze their toes off as they corral traffic down into town, making way for tow trucks and the Colorado Department of Transportation’s fleet of plows and sanders.
Minor likened it to a “highly dangerous ballet.”
However, that dance often grinds to a halt once vehicles reach the towns below. While officers stack semis along the sides of the interstate, confused and cranky motorists flood into the interchange connecting Silverthorne and Dillon.
(Excerpt) Read more at vaildaily.com ...
This could be anywhere on I-95 stretching across Connecticut. Use it at your own peril.
No comparison.
.
I-70 is a great road to drive in the summer from Denver all the way to its end in or near eastern Nevada. It’s beautifully mountainous all the way and parallels the upper reaches of the Colorado River much of the way. The highest point is a little over 11,000 feet.
The trip on a two lane highway the rest of the way to Reno is also great. It’s mostly desolate semi-wilderness and crosses about six mountain ranges. I drove it about eight years ago and plan to do so again in the new Navigator I plan to pick up in about four weeks, which was paid for by the Trump market boom.
Get out much?
**I-95 has been described for years as a highway of death for the fatalities that have occurred along its 111 miles from Greenwich to Stonington. As many as 20 deaths a year have occurred on I-95 in Connecticut, often along congested, curving sections in southwestern Connecticut, and more recently in eastern Connecticut.**
We head out to Vail in the summer. I-70 West of Denver is very beautiful
The I-70 Eisenhower Tunnel area is very exciting in bad weather.
I live in the exurbs west of Knoxville, TN. Once I get on I-70 at St. Louis it’s a deadly slog most of the way to Devner. Then, PRESTO, pure beauty and wonderful twisty, turning, up hill and down hill driving all the way to Reno. I did it eight years ago in a then new Navigator and it looks like, God willing (no joke at 75), I’ll be doing it in my new one come July of ‘18.
I-70 east and west of the tunnel. Just go slowly and don’t try to be speedy. Winter driving. Keep to the slow lane and keep plenty of fallowing distance in front of you. There are too many crazies on the road to try to join them in the persuit of speed. Radio Station from Summit County 93.1 is fun for always cheerful music and road conditions. Be Safe in your journey.
And then there is Loveland Pass if the level of difficulty is too easy for you down below.
ONCE!
Once or twice for me, but later in the day.
Looks good on the radar map. But that section of the highway can be a challenge during bad weather. It is at the bottom of a steep hill with a turn. A little ice and drivers can lose control of their cars.
Congratulations to you! I am going to try to convince my husband to take me back to Vail again this summer, I also want a new car. Looking at the acura MDX hybrid... don’t have quite as far to go as you, usually make it to Denver in a day.
Before the tunnel and I-70 were built, I went over Loveland and through Breckenridge and over Hoosier Pass in a ‘66 Vette that the brakes had failed on, used the hand brake and gears to get down, talk about fun. Once I got to lower altitude the brakes came back. Mechanic in LA said I had the wrong brake fluid.
you started to "boil" your fluid, being at the higher alt and lower air pressure
That is all you’re allowed in one lifetime! lol
I did Trail Ridge road from Grand Lake to Estes Park in a snowstorm once. On bald tires. I was the last one they let through the gate and they probably shouldn’t have. I made it but I don’t know how.
I drove through that area eastbound on a rainy summer day in 2014. I can only imagine what it’s like in the snow and ice.
Do you get to Reno by taking I-70 to U.S. 50 to U.S. 395/I-580?
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