Steamboat Pilot & Today

Changing road conditions Tuesday and Wednesday contributed to 16 traffic accidents in less than 24 hours in the city.

Ten accidents reported during Tuesday's afternoon rush hour kept the Steamboat Springs Police Department busy between 4 and 7 p.m. Two hit-and-runs and three traffic accidents were reported Wednesday.

Assistant Police Chief Art Fiebing said most of the accidents involved slipping and sliding that damaged vehicles but did not cause major injuries.

One man was taken to the hospital for a head injury about 4 p.m. Tuesday from a two-vehicle accident at the intersection of 13th Street and Lincoln Avenue. Two other people involved in the accident refused treatment.

Almost all of the other accidents were two-vehicle, noninjury fender-benders on Steamboat's busy roads.

Drivers not adjusting to the change from wet to slushy to frozen roads was the major culprit in the accidents, Fiebing said.

"You have to pay attention to road conditions when things start to freeze," Fiebing said.

City Public Works Director Jim Weber said snowplow crews worked a full day Tuesday and then came in about 6 a.m. Wednesday morning to clear the snow before the daily commute.

The storm blew in about 4 p.m. Tuesday and petered out about 10 p.m., only to start up again between 4 and 5 Wednesday morning.

The storm's second wind had snowplow drivers clearing streets as people went to work Wednesday morning, Weber said.

The street crews are pulling double duty this week as they prepare for Winter Carnival, Weber said. Wednesday, the crews were setting up snow piles along Lincoln Avenue for the annual street sculpture contests by the Steamboat Springs High School.

On Saturday, the crews will haul in tons of snow to cover four blocks of Lincoln Avenue with snow 8 inches deep for the two-day street events.

-- To reach Christine Metz call 871-4229

or e-mail cmetz@steamboatpilot.com