Heavy traffic, avalanche mitigation to cause delays for those driving to the high country

DENVER -- Officials from CDOT are expecting heavy traffic volume between Denver and the high country as skiers and snowboarders hope to take advantage of the recent heavy snow.

Delays will be inevitable.

"Expect delays just because of volume, period. Of at least an hour up to even two hours. And then anticipate that because we have active weather potentially... we potentially have work with avalanche mitigation that those delays could go even more," said CDOT spokeswoman Amy Ford.

CDOT will have its Express Lanes open between Empire and Idaho Springs. The toll will start at $5 but could go up to $10.

During the 2016 MLK holiday weekend, the Mountain Express lane saved travelers an average of six minutes at 4 p.m. and an average of three to 17 minutes at 7:30 p.m.

"The holiday weekend is always one of the busiest of the season but we’ve gotten five feet of snow in the last seven days so every Front Range skier and rider is eager to come up here and experience the best conditions of the season," said John Sellers with Loveland Ski Area. "We’re expecting really big crowds and they’ll probably be some traffic on the way up and back."

Experts recommend an early to mid-morning start so you're not rushed.

"Don't forget that we still have storms coming in around the state.The I-70 mountain corridor will get some of them, but we expect more of it to be going South, potentially up to another couple feet in the Southwest part of the state," said Ford.