Summer road work season is about to collide with the ski season we all thought would end but has not yet.
Now through Thursday night CDOT is closing westbound I-70 at Floyd Hill for the “live lift,” when cranes install elevated roadway over the existing interstate at the base of Floyd Hill. Westbound lanes are closed from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. nightly, May 10 to May 14, with a detour onto the frontage road from the top of Floyd Hill. This detour adds about 10 minutes to your drive.
The “live lift” is the first of several big installs on CDOT’s most expensive road project in history, estimated at $905 million through 2029. You can expect at least one more round of overnight closures later in the project.
I-70 at the tunnels
Weekend traffic on I-70 took another small hit this weekend with 88,926 cars at the Eisenhower-Johnson tunnels in three days, May 8-10.
That was slower than the previous weekend by nearly 4,000 cars, and slower than the same weekend last year by almost 10,000 cars.
This is a sixth consecutive weekend with traffic slower than 100,000 vehicles. That is the longest streak below 100k since 2020 during statewide stay-at-home orders for the pandemic.
Can’t stop, won’t stop
Arapahoe Basin has done it again, extending the ski season for a third time. New closing weekend at A-Basin is Friday through Sunday, May 15-17.
And this time we think they mean it. After a May snowstorm brought more than a foot of snow to the Continental Divide – and finally bumped snowpack above record lows for the first time in five months – forecasters predict a warm spell this week with temperatures in the 70s and possibly the 80s. Luckily for A-Basin, nighttime temps will still be in the 30s.
That one May snowstorm was a blessing for the Basin, which had more terrain open for second closing weekend (May 8-10) than its original closing (May 1-3).
“Recent storms and our high elevation in conjunction with our mountain ops hard work all season long are what’s keeping us running for yet another weekend,” reads a press release from A-Basin. “Making it to now May 17 is a true feat thanks to our mountain ops hard work all season long.”
Chairlifts are closed Monday through Thursday this week, reopening Friday, May 15 at 9 a.m. for top-to-bottom turns on Black Mountain Express and Lenawee chair. On Saturday and Sunday, May 16-17, chairs open at 8:30 a.m.
Weekend traffic counts sponsored by Dillon Ridge Liquors. Road photos by CDOT. Ski photos by Curtis Devore, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area.