Winter Weather Expected Along The Front Range

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) will have around one hundred snow plows and four large tankers dispersing product and clearing the roadways of snow and ice. Once on snow shift, crews work ten hour shifts, twenty four hours a day until the roads are completely clear of snow and ice.

Crews will be applying a combination of liquid and solid de-icing and anti-icing products. With the recently fluctuating temperatures along the front range, roadways are likely to become icy. Motorists are encouraged to use caution and to use slower speeds in adverse weather.

Snow plow safety is an important part of winter driving. Motorists traveling behind snow plows should remain a minimum of five car lengths behind the plow. Snow plows have limited visibility and often cannot see vehicles traveling too closely behind them. When plows are removing snow and ice from the roadways, whiteout conditions can occur for vehicles traveling too close to the plow. Allow plows to work at a safe distance from vehicles and use extreme caution when passing snow plows. Snow plow operators are maintaining the roads for the safety of the traveling public and their main objective is to remove snow and ice from the roadways to ensure vehicles can arrive safely at their destinations.

During non-peak travel times, snow plows use a method of plowing known as echelon plowing. This is when snow plows line up at an angle along the roadway and plow in a line. This method of plowing allows crews to remove maximum amounts of snow and ice from the roadway in an even fashion and in a shorter amount of time. CDOT does not recommend passing the plows when this is occurring.

To receive real-time updates about road conditions in your area, visit www.coloradodot.info and click on the green cell phone icon in the upper right hand corner of the page. Information about weekly lane closures will be available at www.coloradodot.info/travel/scheduled-lane-closures.html. Live road conditions are available atwww.cotrip.org, downloading the CDOT Mobile app or by calling 511 from anywhere in the state. Updates are also available via Twitter @coloradodot and be sure to “Like” our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/coloradodot.