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The Colorado Conditions, Meet ups and General Talk Thread

644K views 8K replies 303 participants last post by  bseracka 
#1 ·
I know it's early, but damn, we need some snow.

Colorado | OpenSnow

That shit looks like a repeat of last season.
 
#1,663 ·
I got some pics pre dump. I might throw a couple up later. Unfortunately, a kitchen remodel nuked my chance to get out yesterday. Well that and a frozen pipe. Another storm looks to be on tap Saturday night. Things are shaping up nicely right now. Not a miracle season but we seem to be on a slow and steady burn. I like those...
 
#1,666 · (Edited)
yesterday was a beautiful day on the mountain, looks like today will be as well.

no clouds, no wind....errrr...today looks cloudy...yuck.

bringing up gumbo and a crockpot for a hot lunch.

the only thing it isn't too cold for is snowboarding. its way way too fucking cold for anything else.
 
#1,673 ·
My girlfriend drove up to the mountains today and told me that the east bound Idaho Springs tunnel is now open. I'm curious to see if the 3 lane tunnel is as effective at reducing Sunday traffic as they say it will be.

I'm tempted to do a test run this Sunday and actually stay later than 1PM. Maybe I'll leave at 2? I dunno though, that's getting into the danger zone of 3+ hour traffic back to Denver.
 
#1,695 ·
The traffic hasn't been bad this year at all. Most weekend days I usually end up staying until 4 or 5 PM and I don't think I have hit traffic on the way home yet. So far the worst traffic this year has been on week days going west on the days where they shut down a lane around the twin tunnels. On those days it takes 45 minutes to get from Floyd Hill to the Empire exit.
 
#1,674 ·
If you are coming from Summit, you still are going to have a whole lot of fucked to get through. From Loveland or Winterpark, I think you'll see a difference. This is a relative thing. I am thinking the benefit during heavy traffic is going to be 10-15 minutes at best. Still, once you get to Idaho Springs, you should start seeing some relief I would think.

If you are thinking it is going to be a drastic difference, well think again...
 
#1,680 ·
Actually the Tunnel is them starting today. They are going to start widening another section this Spring or next I believe. I think the plan was to keep adding on to it, but who knows with right of ways and that sort of thing. All the god damn environmental studies should be done and put to bed, though it seems like they never are.
 
#1,681 ·
I just don't view I-70 as the long-term solution. Are they gonna make that bitch 4 lanes wide both directions? Traffic is only gonna keep increasing. I just don't think they can make enough improvements fast enough to ever keep up, much less get ahead of the traffic demands.

Some type of lightrail/monorail/high speed train is the long-term solution, but how we gonna pay for that shit?
 
#1,683 · (Edited)
A lightrail would be pretty legit. I have noticed that the majority of cars in I-70 traffic have 1 or 2 people in them. I'll admit I'm guilty of this a lot of times when my buddies don't feel like going I say fuck it and go myself. If they make a lightrail that can hold 40 people per car, with 5 cars per train (I'm sure they can hold more), you'd be getting almost 150 cars off the road per train. Run the train every 15 minutes and you're getting rid of 600 cars per hour.

If I'm going by myself, I'd gladly pay around $15 for a round trip lightrail ticket. Hell it costs me about $25 round trip in gas in my FJ. Combine that with not having to deal with the fucktard CO drivers and multiple rock chips to my vehicle from CDOT's "sand" per trip, and $15 sounds like a pretty awesome deal.
 
#1,687 ·
Wrong.........lots of time on I-70 year round. The weekend warriors with the family and their camping, RV's, boats, motos, etc.......they gonna ride it? The people travelin' on I-70 from state to state? The shit load of semi trailers? It's a main artery. I look forward to the winter drive.........way more chill.
 
#1,688 ·
All I know is that all the congestion problems start and end where the highway goes from 3-2 lanes and 2-3 respectively. Widening it all the way to Summit would make a hell of a difference. The congestion now is not much different than it was when I moved here in 90. Anyone who thinks differently has a poor memory. Will widening solve it all? Hell no. A rail solution is a great idea. Probably need to do both in the long run. The I70 corridor has been a problem as long as I have lived here. It always will be to some degree.
 
#1,696 ·
It isn't traffic season yet. Unless it is absolutely nuking, the traffic problem on weekends doesn't usually start until the weekend after this one. Once Christmas hits it is junk show time.

The big difference this year has been the mid week back ups. That should be over with after today.

Well sort of. So that extra lane, CDOT wants to make it a pay lane. There is a sign before the tunnel that is now covered. It might be free if your vehicle has three or more in it. That is bullshit. Hopefully someone starts a petition. I don't think they plan to do it this year. I think they want to widen more of the highway. Tbh though, I don't really know.
 
#1,697 ·
I read somewhere that they are going to widen the road further out from the tunnel to 3 lanes. How far I don't know, but their ultimate goal is to make the new lane a pay lane. I'm asuming the pay lane won't go into affect until it's actually more than a mile. It would be pretty scummy to charge people money just to go through a 3rd lane in a 100 yard tunnel.
 
#1,699 ·
2015 is when the grace period is supposed to end and you have a pay lane. It is a little unclear, but that pay lane could extend all the way to Golden. If that is the case, I think some pressure will have to be applied to CDOT to think otherwise. I am usually behind them on their expansion projects. Not really in this case.
 
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