Wildlife Crossings Included In Major I-70 Improvements Planned For Vail Pass
EAGLE COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - Phase one of a $164.2 million I-70 project on Vail Pass in underway. A popular trail is moving, an emergency truck ramp has been added and crews have plans to add six wildlife crossings throughout the dangerous stretch of western Colorado highway.
"Vail Pass has the number one crashes per volume of cars in Colorado along I-70," CDOT Resident Engineer Karen Berdoulay said.
It's part of why they're planning to add an additional lane to the interstate as well.
Each time there's a crash, with only two lanes, it's more often going to close down the entire interstate compared to another trouble spot: the stretch between Silverthorne and the Eisenhower–Johnson Tunnel. That roadway has three lanes, and therefore emergency crews have a bit of an easier time getting to the issue, like if a car hits wildlife.
"That's the goal of this project. And so it should reduce crashes significantly," Berdoulay said. You can read the full plans for the improvements at codot.gov/projects/i70westvailauxiliarylanes.
The plan is to include six wildlife crossings that will go under the road. There was a possibility for crews to build over the interstate, but Berdoulay said that isn't a good option.
"It's a very curvy road. And if we were to have a bridge over the road that would create shading and maybe have snow drifts and also icing. So because of the curvy nature of the path it's important to go under the road," Berdoulay explained.
Crews are expected to break ground on the wildlife crossings next year. If you're interested in a town hall meeting about developments happening sooner, you can listen in Thursday night at 7 P.M. at bit.ly/vailpassopenhouse.