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New winter tire legislation clears initial hurdle

Scott Franz
Snow covers tires outside Big O Tires.
Matt Stensland

Thousands have used new toll lane

Thousands of vehicles utilized the new mountain express toll lane on I-70 when it was open during the holidays, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.

"Operationally, we're estatic," State Transportation Commission Chairwoman Kathy Connell said of the results.

CDOT officials told 9news that nearly 9,500 vehicles used the eastbound toll lane when it was open a handful of days in late December and the first weekend of January.

Connell said the lane has kept traffic moving much more quickly this year, despite an increase in the number of vehicles on the road.

She said during an 11-day period in last year's holiday season, an average of 3,300 vehicles were driving between Empire and the Veterans Memorial Tunnels, and speeds would often average between five and 15 miles per hour.

Since the toll lane was added, she said, up to 4,400 vehicles have been able to maintain a speed of 60 to 65 miles per hour on the same stretch of the interstate during the holiday season.

She attributed part of the success to keeping the toll prices low so far.

"Now, we have to get in a delicate dance between how much do you raise the tolls (to recover the cost of building the lane)," she said. "How do we inch them up? Or is this something that is so good for the public that we always keep it low" and don't expect to recover the cost of adding the lane.

Connell said the state is looking into the possibility of adding another toll lane in the same area on westbound I-70.

The new toll lane is CDOT's latest effort to ease traffic headaches on a stretch of interstate that can come to a halt when travelers leave resort areas on the Western Slope.

The new toll lane can be open 72 days per year during peak travel times.

State Rep. Diane Mitsch Bush’s latest bill, which aims to make winter driving safer on Interstate 70 in the mountains, is gaining traction.

On Wednesday, the bipartisan House Transportation and Energy Committee voted in favor of Mitsch Bush’s bill that would require all passenger vehicles to have adequate tires or chains or alternative traction devices from Oct. 1 to May 15 on the interstate between Morrison and Dotsero.

Drivers with adequate tires and four- or all-wheel drive would also be in compliance.



The requirements would be in effect from Oct. 1 to May 15, and no new law enforcement checkpoints would be created.

Currently, authorities can only enforce these traction requirements when a Code 15, or chain law, is called.



But there is often a time lag between the time road conditions worsen and the chain law goes into effect.

“By the time CDOT can declare an emergency, it’s too late to prevent anything,” Colorado State Patrol Sergeant David Hall said in a fact sheet about the bill.

The bill proposes allowing authorities to begin enforcing equipment requirements as soon as there is snow on the road.

Drivers would also be able to more clearly understand that, anytime winter conditions exist on I-70, they need the proper equipment and could under current law face citations and fines of $500 or more if they cause an accident or close the road due to inadequate traction.

The bill is backed by Colorado Department of Transportation, the Colorado State Patrol, the I-70 Coalition, law enforcement groups who respond to accidents on the interstate and business leaders who lose visitor revenue when the interstate closes.

“CDOT has done all it can under current statute to educate drivers,” Mitsch Bush, D-Steamboat Springs, said in a news release about the bill. “But under current law and rule, CDOT cannot state that adequate tires or chains are required until after a Code 15 has been called. That is often too late to prevent spinouts.”

The state estimates communities — both those lying along I-70 and statewide — lose out on an estimated $800,000 every hour the interstate is closed.

Mitsch Bush’s bill, which is co-sponsored by Rep. Bob Rankin, R- Carbondale, will now go to the House floor for a vote.

A similar piece of legislation proposed by Mitsch Bush and Rankin during the last legislative session lost traction in the Senate after earning bipartisan support in the House.

Some critics questioned whether the bill would be effective, and it became a study instead.

The study results came in, and the legislators behind the winter tire legislation say the results continue to show the new law is warranted.

“The data from the 2014 winter season showed very, very clearly that, once again, the majority of closures of I-70 that were caused by inadequate traction were caused by passenger vehicles, not trucks,” Mitsch Bush told Steamboat Today. “Ten years ago, the vast majority was trucks. Then they put a new law into place.”

To reach Scott Franz, call 970-871-4210, email scottfranz@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @ScottFranz10


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