Saturday morning traffic holds on Berthoud Pass

March 3, 2017 - Denver Metro Colorado/CDOT Region 1 - CLEAR CREEK COUNTY - On Saturday, March 4, the Colorado Department of Transportation will conduct intermittent traffic holds on Berthoud Pass at mile marker 250 between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m.

These traffic holds are necessary to conduct emergency repairs to the Gazex System on Berthoud Pass at the Stanley Slide. It is urgent that these repairs take place as soon as possible to ensure the safety of motorists before the next storm system moves into the area bringing snow and wind.

CDOT avalanche crews noticed that two exploders did not fire when they conducted avalanche mitigation on Wednesday, March 1, on Berthoud Pass at the Stanley Slide. CDOT will work with its contractor and the Colorado Avalanche Information Center on Saturday to fly CDOT crews by helicopter to the exploders to make repairs. Once the Gazex System is in working order, crews will test fire the two exploders on Sunday morning at day break, following standard avalanche protocol.

Due to the urgency of the matter and scheduling, repairs must be conducted on Saturday before the next storm and, for the safety of our crews, it must be done before 10 a.m. due to projected high winds moving into the area after that time. High winds would make it unsafe for helicopter operations to continue.

TRAVEL UPDATES

CDOT is reminding motorists to consult the department’s traveler information tools:

  • Visit www.COTRIP.org to view road conditions, travel alerts and track our snow plows;
  • Call 511 anywhere in Colorado for periodically updated road conditions;
  • Sign up for GovDelivery alerts;
  • Follow CDOT on Twitter and Facebook (though the latter will not provide the most up-to-date news and conditions).