Becky Holsinger Rand/Courtesy photo
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the status of County Road 1.
The Colorado Department of Transportation announced the Berthoud Pass on U.S. Highway 40 will remain closed until further notice after an avalanche Sunday caused an overnight closure. Additional bank slides and other condition issues make it too dangerous for CDOT to reopen the pass.
“Heavy snow, strong winds and blizzard (at Berthoud Pass) are not abating. The snow is deep. Sometimes there is zero visibility,” Lisa Ann Schwantes, CDOT regional communications manager for Region 5, said Monday afternoon. “The storm is creating challenging conditions for the team.”
CDOT has not announced when it plans to reopen the highway and says travelers should plan alternate routes. Due to restrictions on local roads and other closed highways in the state, detours and traffic become difficult for drivers to navigate.
“Crews worked through the night and will continue efforts today to open the culvert as soon as possible,” CDOT said in a Jan. 15 email. “There is no estimated time frame.”
The Jan. 14 avalanche stranded 10 cars on the pass around 11:20 a.m. Grand County Sheriff’s and CDOT crews responded to the scene to help extricate drivers whose cars were stuck under the snow. There were no casualties.
The sheriff’s office said its officers were also working diligently to clear all the traffic on US 40.
“As we work to deal with the inclement weather and increased traffic for the holiday weekend, we appreciate the public’s support and patience,” the sheriff’s office said. “Until CDOT reopens the highway, we ask that motorists avoid the Highway 40 corridor leading to Berthoud Pass.”
The sheriff’s office added that drivers should check and review their detour instead of relying solely on map apps. County Road 1, also known as Trough Road, was restricted to local traffic only for most of Monday due to the condition of the road and the limited cell service available on the road. The sheriff is also advising travelers not to use County Road 50 as it is not a viable winter route.
Impacts on drivers
The incident caused many motorists to experience long delays over the holiday weekend.
Granby resident Lacey Thurston was able to jump over the pass Sunday morning before the slide. On her way back from Denver, she hit the closed highway. To get back to Granby, the only option was via I-70 and through the Eisenhower Tunnel. She told Sky-Hi News that she saw “semi-trucks slashed with knives and cars sliding off the road.” She eventually made it home by going from 1-70 to Colorado Highway 9, then over Ute Pass.
Jason Clark, who lives in Denver and works part-time in Winter Park, had trouble getting home Sunday because of the extended shutdown. In addition to Berthoud Pass, which was closed, Vail and Loveland Passes were closed. Clark told Sky-Hi News that because of all those closures, it took him seven hours to drive from Winter Park to Denver, passing through Silverthorne.
Jenny Morrell lives in the Denver metro area but has a home in Granby. She said getting out of Mary Jane’s side of Winter Park Resort on Sunday was impossible. Many cars headed into the closed crossing and then had to turn back, snarling traffic in the city of Winter Park.
CDOT on scene
Throughout Sunday evening and into Martin Luther King Jr. Day, CDOT crews performed snow removal and landslide mitigation work. The CDOT team encountered several more landslides that again buried the roads in snow. Additional mudslides, snow and high winds made Berthoud Pass too dangerous to reopen and factored into CDOT’s decision to keep the road closed until further notice, according to a press release from CDOT Monday afternoon.
“Safety closures are implemented, sometimes on quick warning, when extreme adverse conditions or high avalanche danger occur,” CDOT said. “The closure is also necessary when avalanche mitigation and snow removal operations are taking place.”
The forecast
CDOT expects winter maintenance operations to continue over the next several days as heavy snow and windy conditions continue across the area. For example, Winter Park Resort has accumulated 21 inches of snow as of Sunday afternoon, with more expected on Wednesday.
“Extreme winter weather conditions will continue to make mountain travel very challenging,” CDOT said. “Travellers can expect slower speeds to be enforced and safety closures are likely to occur if necessary.”
Know before you go
CDOT urges travelers to “gather information about weather forecasts, expected travel impacts and current road conditions before hitting the road.”
CDOT and other resources include:
