Traffic delays begin today in Glenwood Canyon as workers build what the Colorado Department of Transportation calls a permanent solution to rockfall dangers.
To allow for helicopter operations, both directions of I-70 through Glenwood Canyon will have occasional 30 to 45 minute delays through Thursday of this week, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The helicopters are delivering materials to build four rockwall fences in two emergency zones.
Westbound, lanes will be closed just east of the Hanging Lake Tunnel, eastbound traffic will be stopped near the mile marker 123 Shoshone exit.
The project is set to be complete by September - westbound I-70 at mile marker 124 will be reduced to one lane during that time to allow for staging of construction vehicles.
Further down the interstate - CDOT announced this weekend the completion of a fire safety system in the Eisenhower/Johnson tunnels. The $25 million system does not have the ability to put out a vehicle fire, but allows increased likelihood of responding emergency personnel to help put out a fire.
And numbers are in for the first winter of the Mountain Express Lane. The dynamic-pricing system of the lane rose to a maximum of eight dollars for it’s use during the highest capacity times. Average speed on the lane was 60 miles an hour. The express lane carried about four percent of the travelers heading to the front rage from Colorado’s ski areas along I-70.