DENVER (KDVR) — Due to the snowstorm that hit this weekend, many state highways, interstates and roadways were ordered to close. FOX31 wanted to know who makes the call and what conditions warrant a closure.
The Colorado Department of Transportation collectively makes the decision on whether or not a safety closure is necessary. The effort is a combination of maintenance crews that see conditions first hand as well as CDOT’s operation centers where they monitor roadway cameras.
“It’s a combination of what everyone is seeing, and when we have extremely heavy snowfall rates, blowing snow, poor visibility type conditions – it turns into the threshold for a decision to be made,” Tamara Rollison, Communications Manager for CDOT headquarters said.
The goal of a safety closure is to keep road conditions from getting worse and to also prevent crashes. Closures also allow plows to clear roads more efficiently so that roadways can re-open.
Some areas of the state are more prone to closures than others. Some areas include Interstate 70 from Airpark to Kansas, sections of I-70 in the mountains and the Interstate 25 South Gap.