I-70 West Of Denver Shuts Down Every 2.4 Days

New data analysis shows that I-70 west of Denver has been shut down every 2.4 days for the past four years.

I-70 Closures Blamed on Ill-Prepared Drivers

Based on traffic data taken from Jan. 1, 2012, through the end of 2015, almost 600 incidents shut down I-70 in at least one direction. The total length of time that those incidents closed down the interstate was 1,076 hours and 32 minutes. The average I-70 closure time was one hour and six minutes. Unprepared drivers are largely to blame for the closures, according to many residents.

Of the top five closure locations, Vail Pass ranked number one, followed by Glenwood Canyon, then the Eisenhower-Johnson Tunnel. Silverthorne and the Vail area rounded out the top five.

Data Analysts Say That Commercial Vehicles Are Involved In Shut Downs About Half Of The Time

The analysts estimated that commercial vehicles were involved in the incidents that closed I-70 “40 to 60 percent” of the time.

Over four years, the longest stretch of time without an I-70 closure was 25 days in August of 2014.

The longest closure took place over 13 hours at Palisade due to a wildfire.

CDOT says that they are working on employing new technology to reduce the number of interstate closures.

The incident in the image for this article was captured by the Vail Fire Department five miles west of Vail Pass Summit in February. No injuries were reported.

Sources:
The Denver Post
The Post Independent