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Truckers torn over positioning of additional I-70 runaway ramp 

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Truckers are torn over the correct placement of a second runaway truck ramp along Interstate 70 after the 2019 wreck that killed four, injured 10, and sparked massive controversy over sentencing. 

CDOT is looking to prevent such a horrendous accident from happening again, and has plans to install a second runaway ramp along the same section of I-70 in Mount Vernon Canyon, just slightly lower than the first one. As of this week, the plan is to install the ramp on the left side of the highway, but there are questions as to whether a right side runaway truck ramp might better serve truckers in need. 

“All your slow traffic is on the right, your faster traffic would be on the left,” one driver said to CBS Denver. In support of a left-side ramp. The same driver added that an out-of-control truck is more likely to hug the left side of the road, as the driver did in the 2019 fatal accident. 

 “Right hand because trucks are usually only allowed in the right two lanes,” added trucker Laura Sites. 

In addition to the new ramp, CDOT also plans to shorten the entry to the first ramp to make it more visible, and will add a high barrier wall with an additional fence to separate each ramp and keep the ramps separate from traffic. 

“We’ve got barriers and different safety features in the middle, but when you talk about a semi they are not going to stop 80,000 pounds,” said Shawn Miller, a trucker skeptical of the planned fence. 

“If the first ramp doesn’t catch them, the second ramp would provide an additional safe haven for a runaway truck,” Engineer Kevin Brown explained.

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