Colorado Department of Transportation upgrades tunnel bays and tunnel operations center

CBS News Colorado took you on a tour of the updated tunnel operations and maintenance bays for Colorado Department of Transportation crews working at the top of the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels earlier this year, now CDOT has done its first ribbon cutting for maintenance bays.

"Up here, it is incredibly brutal, at least six to seven months out of the year," John Lorme, Director of Maintenance and Operations for CDOT explained on an uncharacteristically pleasant Monday morning outside the tunnels. 

"Without maintainers up here, I think I-70 would be closed for pretty much Thanksgiving through Easter weekend."

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Now with the bays online, not only can crews rest and refresh up at the tunnels, but their plows can be worked on too, as opposed to the time-intensive tow down to Aurora, which was the previous solution. Faster repair time means more time plows are operational, which means safer and cleaner roads when you're driving along Interstate 70 this winter.

The updated tunnel operations center will help CDOT keep an eye on everything along the corridor, not just the tunnels, and get messaging out to drivers to help adjust trips, if at all possible. 

"This supports I-70 in Golden all the way to Silverthorne," Lorme said. 

You'll likely notice the new bays on the west side of the tunnels next time you drive through, wave!