Summit County tunnel traffic near December record

SUMMIT COUNTY — Lower gas prices and heaps of fresh powder proved to be an alluring combination, as December traffic through the Eisenhower Tunnel outpaced last year’s numbers.

The total vehicle count for the month was up 73,944 from last year, to a total of 1,015,899, said senior tunnel maintenance supervisor Rod Henderson.

That monthly total was close to the higher numbers the tunnel generally sees during the summer months, Henderson said.

On Dec. 27, the Saturday after Christmas, 47,974 vehicles cruised through the tunnels, making it one of the busiest traffic days ever. It was the 11th-busiest 24-hour period for the tunnel, Henderson said.

For 2008, total traffic through the twin bores totaled 11,550,601 vehicles, dropping about 224,000 from 2007.

Tunnel travelers headed to the slopes of Summit County the past few weeks found conditions as good as they’ve been in recent years. Breckenridge, for example, says 79 inches of new powder made December the snowiest month overall in the past eight years, 66 percent above average.