Mountain Express lanes will be open additional days during holiday season to help deal with increase in traffic on I-70
If you've ever wondered why those express lanes in the mountains along I-70 are closed most of the time, we've got your answer.
The Colorado Department of Transportation released that Gov. Jared Polis requested the lanes be open during the holiday travel periods, and the agency agreed, so there will be more days when the lanes are open coming up. The reason they are not always open in the first place is a little more complicated than simple preference and has to do with the Federal Highway Administration and local officials near where the lanes are located.
"The idea is that they're there to help relieve traffic," Tim Hoover, CDOT spokesperson said. "Relieve congestion in peak periods, but when they're not being used for that, they are meant to be used as shoulders."
Because they are not full-sized lanes, it creates a potentially more dangerous situation to drive in, while not too unsafe to actually allow, it is less safe than optimal according to CDOT.
There's also the fact there is no real shoulder when it's in effect.
CDOT also said it has data that shows these toll lanes that are only open to those willing to pay are actually better at keeping traffic moving, compared to just adding another lane for everyone to use.
The eastbound lanes are allowed to be open 100 days or 1,168 hours, whereas the westbound lanes are allowed to be open 125 days or 965 hours.
CDOT said it will use days from the bank from this year for the Thanksgiving traffic, then the count resets at the end of November, and they will pull the Christmas days from the new balance of days.
The express lanes open the westbound I-70 mountain Express Lanes during Thanksgiving week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (and later if needed) and the eastbound lanes from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. CDOT will also keep the lanes open during Christmas holiday travel as well, from Dec. 23 to Jan. 1.
