I-70 reopens over Vail Pass after numerous tractor-trailers stuck with no chains causes hours-long closure
Loveland Pass in Summit County is also closed, as winter weather continues in Colorado's mountains
Eastbound Interstate 70 was forced to close on Monday afternoon due to adverse weather conditions, but the closure occurred after more than a dozen tractor-trailers passed the chain station without being forced to chain up.
The interstate reopened shortly before 5 p.m.
Highway 24 — a popular detour around Vail Pass — closed for a couple hours between 3 and 5 p.m. Loveland Pass in Summit County is closed as well.
Snowy conditions started pounding Vail Pass starting at about 1 p.m. on Monday, said Sargeant Patrick Rice with Colorado State Patrol.
“It’s just a sheet of ice up there, multiple spun out vehicles,” Rice said.
Rice said Colorado State Patrol is oftentimes the agency that recommends to the Colorado Department of Transportation that the chain law should be in effect. But sometimes, unfortunately, crews are “behind the ball on getting the chain law set in place, and it’s too late, and at that point (tractor-trailers) are already on the hill,” he said.
That appears to be what happened on Monday afternoon, said Jonathan Levine with Vail Black Car. Levine was traveling westbound down Vail Pass as the heavy snowfall began.
“At about 1:05 p.m. I started seeing all the trucks that couldn’t get up the hill,” Levine said. “So I radioed my other driver and told him to go around on Highway 24 at Minturn. He barely made it through.”
This story is from VailDaily.com

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