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Tips to avoid the worst of Presidents Day weekend ski traffic on Interstate 70

Presidents Day weekend was the third-busiest of the ski season in 2021

John Meyer
The Denver Post
Traffic comes to a standstill on Interstate 70 west after it closed at the tunnel due to multiple accidents March 4, 2021. The upcoming Presidents Day weekend is expected to be one of the busiest travel weekends of ski season.
Liz Copan/For the Summit Daily News

DENVER — This weekend is apt to be one of the busiest of the season for skiers and snowboarders braving the rigors of Interstate 70, so if you plan to take advantage of the four-day Presidents Day break, it might help to have an informed game plan for avoiding the worst of inevitable traffic hassles.

Presidents Day weekend was the seventh-busiest of 2021 as measured by vehicles passing through the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels (152,999) and was the third-busiest of the ski season behind New Year’s weekend and Martin Luther King Day weekend. Thanksgiving weekend ranked first (196,792) for 2021. Others ranked ahead of Presidents Day weekend were Fourth of July weekend, Labor Day weekend and Memorial Day weekend.

Although snow came late to most ski areas this season, traffic has been running ahead of last season. Vehicle totals in December and January exceeded 2.19 million, an increase of 4.7% over last season.



Based on tunnel traffic over Presidents Day weekend last year, here are some numbers to help skiers and riders avoid the worst of it:

  • Friday was the busiest day of the weekend with 42,806 vehicles passing through the tunnels. Of that, 26,112 were westbound and 16,694 were eastbound.
  • The heaviest westbound traffic of the weekend occurred from 11 a.m. to noon and from 4-6 p.m. Friday.
  • The heaviest eastbound traffic occurred from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and from 5-6 p.m. Monday, with the worst of it occurring from 2-3 p.m. Eastbound traffic also was heaviest from 2-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Read more at DenverPost.com.



Weather

Keep up with the conditions:

• Forecast: Weather.gov

• Summit County ski area forecasts: OpenSnow.com/region/summitcounty

• Recent weather stories: SummitDaily.com/news/weather

• Road conditions, closures and traffic cameras: CoTrip.org.

• Travel information by phone: 511 in Colorado or 303-639-1111.

• Sign up for CDOT alerts: Subscription.CoTrip.org

• Avalanche danger and conditions: Avalanche.state.co.us.


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