IDAHO SPRINGS, Colo. — If you've ever been caught on the I-70 Mountain Corridor, you know how quickly crashes can back it up or shut it down completely. But a new bill to ease some of that winter traffic could soon be on the governor's desk.
Kent Slaymaker owns Slaymaker Cellars in Idaho Springs and says I-70 winter traffic jams are a part of mountain life.
“It's definitely noticeable on our sales, but it's something that happens. It's something that we're used to,” he said
On any given day, folks pop in and out to enjoy a nice glass of mead at the meadery, brewed on-site using Colorado honey.
“It's a good place to have a business like this. People like wandering around and finding authentic places like this, where people make things,” said Slaymaker.
But it's a different story when winter weather rolls in and crashes shut down I-70 for hours.
“When the traffic floods over into the regular surface streets, it shuts down the town,” said Slaymaker.
SB 25-069 would allow the Colorado Department of Transportation to issue permits to third-party roadside vendors, who could sell, install, and remove tire chains from vehicles along I-70.
“It costs the state millions of dollars for every hour that I-70 is shut down,” said Democrat Rep. Meghan Lukens, one of the bill’s sponsors.
Similar laws exist in states like Washington, California, and Oregon.
Local government leaders have expressed concerns in the past about commercial vehicles not adhering to the state’s chain laws.
Commercial drivers are required to carry chains from September 1 to May 31 each year in Colorado.
The Colorado State Patrol started conducting weekly enforcement operation numbers earlier this spring. Last week, it checked 91 commercial vehicles and issued citations to five drivers for not carrying tire chains.
“This is a safety net for them if they need assistance, or if they need a chain or multiple chains, to be able to get those at the chain station in a safe way, to be able to comply and continue on their way and be able to come back home,” said Democrat Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, another one of the bill’s sponsors.
City and county leaders along the I-70 corridor say these accidents often drain public safety resources from their communities.
Clear Creek County Commissioner Rebecca Lloyd and two other commissioners wrote to Gov. Jared Polis earlier this year asking for more state resources to help the county of 9,100 residents address the issue.
“We get 30 to 35,000 cars a day going through our county on I-70. We don't have the resources to police it, to take care of everything we need,” said Lloyd, “We'll greatly appreciate it if this bill can pass.”
As the bill moves through the legislature, business owners like Slaymaker say it's nice to imagine an alternative to the winter traffic woes.
“It would be great to reduce it,” he said.
The bill has passed the Finance Committee and is headed to the Appropriations Committee. It is hoped that it will be implemented by this winter.
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