US 550 Red Mountain Pass Now Open
Travel Advisory
February 18, 2021 - Southwestern Colorado
SOUTHWEST COLORADO ― US 550 Red Mountain Pass between Silverton and Ouray was opened today at approximately 1:30 p.m. Crews shot down avalanches on eight known slide paths. All snowslides reached the highway with snow ranging from three to eight feet in depth across the roadway. The photo above shows the East Riverside South avalanche path, near the snowshed located two miles south of Ouray.
The pass was closed overnight to the traveling public after adverse weather conditions including high winds, blowing snow, low visibility and high accumulations of snow, made yesterday’s avalanche mitigation operations impossible to perform. Crews resumed mitigation efforts at 6 a.m. this morning.Know Before You Go
Travelers are urged to “know before you go.” Gather information about weather forecasts and anticipated travel impacts and current road conditions prior to hitting the road. CDOT resources include:
- Road conditions and travel information: COtrip.org
- Sign up for project or travel alerts: bit.ly/COalerts
- See scheduled lane closures
- Check avalanche conditions at CAIC: avalanche.state.co.us
- Connect with us on social media: Twitter @coloradodot and Facebook facebook.com/coloradodot
