What's your worst Colorado winter driving experience? (Colorado Springs, Durango: work, traffic)

[NewAgeRedneck]

Mike...I like your vision!

blessings...Franco

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Amen. Having spent a career in the freight traffic business, to include military strategic mobility and transportability, I couldn't have said it any better than you did. That superslab highway "they" want to build is a terrible idea - it should be built as a 4-track, high speed, grade separated, super railroad.

My "vision" for this super RR would see it run from El Paso, passing near the population centers of NM, parallel the Front Range (10-25 miles east) and go on north. North of I-80 would be two tracks up to I-94. A true network that would not only get trucks off the roads, but cars too. Powered by electricity that could be made right here via nukes or coal. There'd be blocks of land set aside along the RR for the sort of huge postal concentration centers that the USPS likes to build, and for UPS/freight distribution hubs. Much of the trucking business would morph into using standard containerized boxes that can be lifted off anywhere along the way for local pickup/delivery. Truck drivers would shift to more of a local haulage workforce and be home with their families every night like they should be. Main corridor passenger trains would run at 150+ MPH and connect to light rail feeder lines running east/west from the RR to cities & airports along the way (e.g., Pueblo, Fort Carson/airport, Monument, Castle Rock, Centennial, etc, 2-3 for Denver metro, DIA, Greeley, Boulder, Fort Collins, all the way to Cheyenne - I'm sure I missed a few). That is the sort of future I'd like to see. We need to build this nation for the next century or two, with an eye away from the current petroleum-based lifestyle. Too bad our leaders can't seem to look any further out than the next election, or the next 90-day quarter like those "genius" Wall Street dudes. I think America has a future, and we should be willing to pay a bit more in taxes to assure a great future, rather than continue being slaves to the oil and auto lobbies. Tell ya the truth, when I looked at retirement, having lived/worked for 30 years in that murderous auto gridlock called northern Virginia, central Europe (GE/FR) sure looked awfully good to me.....

But I'm dreaming to think that in what's left of my lifetime we'll ever see a multi-state and Federal co-ordinated, cohesive, comprehensive, deliberate scheme for national transport, designed to serve the needs of the PEOPLE and the NATION, that is forward looking, based on science and rational thought, and maximizes efficiency of land and resources. No wonder I drink....

Good thoughts, Mike. Without even going to that extent, much could be done to get traffic off of roads. Right now, a rail corridor through central Colorado sits in mothballs, rotting, that could be used for intermodal transport. Why not put some investment into that, instead of tearing up more countryside with multi-lane fuel-wasting roads? There are numerous other underutilized rail corridors all across the country that could be upgraded for a fraction of what new highway construction costs. We COULD have a decent conventional (not "high-speed," i.e., 150 mph) passenger rail system, too, if we as a nation would choose to invest in it.

Truth is, petroleum scarcity, supply insecurities, and soaring highway maintenance costs are going to force us to do all of that--and probably sooner than anyone thinks. The only question is whether we get ahead of the game and start making those investments now, or wait until it must be done in chaos and panic--with all of the horrendous costs and inefficiency that comes with any kind of "crash" program.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

Good thoughts, Mike. Without even going to that extent, much could be done to get traffic off of roads. Right now, a rail corridor through central Colorado sits in mothballs, rotting, that could be used for intermodal transport. Why not put some investment into that, instead of tearing up more countryside with multi-lane fuel-wasting roads?....

Agree with all of that....let's do it....I volunteer to be 'official' photographer...

[GunGirlCO]

LOL everyday ...no one can drive here

[zaphod07]

I remember driving from Denver to Placerville (near Telluride) back in 1981. My oldest Daughter was an infant. I really freaked my poor wife out.
We were planning a Christmas in Placerville at my parents home there. Stayed at my brother's place in Littleton, on I believe the 23rd of December, and went out to eat at a nice Italian joint. It started snowing as we walked in. When we left, about 2 hrs later, there was already 4 inches of snow. Went to bed around midnight with 8 inches down and still snowing hard. The plan was to leave about 7 am.
Well, there was about 16" on everything when we got up and started loading up. We had an old Ford Bronco, and a Toyota Celica, both with chains. We left out of Littleton about 8 am heading down 285. It took us 4 hours to get to Evergreen! Somewhere around Bailey I encountered a jeep just parked in what I thought was the middle of the road. I did my damnest to get stopped, even only doing 10 mph, it was tough going down hill. Got her stopped, looked over at my brother with a big sigh of relief, and about then WHAM we got rear ended by a guy in one of those 4wd Ramblers. Damage was minimal except it pushed forward the passenger quarter panel enough that the door popped open and wouldn't shut! Had to travel a few more hours with one door tied shut with a rope and about a 3" gap letting in cold air and more snow. Finally near Trout pass we saw a guy on an old 8N ford tractor pushing snow with a blade, and got him to "yank" our bumper back with a chain, which took enough pressure off the quarter panel to get the door shut!
Another 15 miles after trout Pass (may have been Red Mtn. Pass) the snow quit and we zoomed on west and south to P'ville. Monarch of course was treacherous but the rest of the trip was uneventful, except that it took us 11 hours instaed of the normal 5. Had a wonderful Christmas, skied 3 days in Telluride, back when they only had 6 lifts! (anyone around remember those days??)
My other brother had stayed in Denver with his pregnant wife. He told us they ended up with 24" of snow as I recall. We went home to Missouri through Durango, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.

I can also recall a March trip to Ice fish in San Miguel County, and driving through a blinding snowstorm on 285 heading through South Park. We could only tell if we were on the road by the tops of the fence posts along the way.
Chains back then made a big difference. To this day I do not go to Colo. without snow chains, 4wd drive or not!

[rmm64]

My worst driving experience was surprisingly, on the flat lands of the front range, not on the high mountain roads. I was in the Army working as a truck driver (officially, a 64C, Heavy Wheeled Vehicle Operator, later changed to an 88M), and was assigned to a FSB (Forward Support Battalion) at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs. Back during Oct. '91 (or was it '92?), we were down at a training area just east of Trinidad hauling cargo, supplies, vehicles for an infantry unit doing field exercises. The training was over and we were hauling everything back to Ft. Carson.

That Halloween morning we were scheduled to leave at 7am for what was normally a 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive, but we couldn't leave. It had snowed the night before, heavily, and the roads were closed. Around 8:15am the sun peeked out for a few minutes, and the roads were opened up just long enough for our convoy to get underway. We had about a dozen semi's pulling various trailers, a few Humvees with trailers, and 2 MP escorts (also in Humvees.) We slowly made our way to I-25 where we found the on ramp was blocked by an England semi truck that was spinning it's wheels. So we got onto southbound I-25, went down to the next exit and turned around headed north. By this point visibility was only 100'-150' as the weather had turned back to blizzard conditions, so our convoy had to pull off the side of the interstate to wait for everyone to catch back up. I was near the back of the convoy and remember watching the side mirror and seeing a 4x4 truck pulling a trailer with a CJ-5 on it suddenly go sideways in the middle of the interstate, heading straight for the rear MP escort. The MP's literally were diving out of the vehicle a split second before the impact. We later found out the 4x4 was driven by Texans coming up to hunt (and had no idea how to drive in snow, let alone blizzard conditions.)

So we finally got back underway, slowly making our way back to base. I believe our top speed the entire trip was 25mph. Visibility hardly improved with each truck closely following the tracks of the vehicle in front of them (don't know who the lead vehicle was following, if anyone at all) The sides of the road were barely discernible except for the occasional tree or fence peeking up through the snow drifts. We finally got to Ft. Carson around 9:00 pm that night, 12+ hours later!!! And no sooner did we drop our loads then were told we had to turn around and head right back for more! By that time the storm had ended, the snow plows had been out hard and heavy, so the return wasn't near as bad (or long), but it's a trip that I'll remember forever. IMO, it was even worse than the time I drove I-70 over Vail pass at 10pm during a snowstorm in a '71 Ford Pinto with bald tires (something else I wouldn't recommend ever doing), praying I could keep going 10mph because if I stopped I'd never get going again.

It's times like those that make you realize just how important traveling is and when it's best to sit safe and warm at home and wait.

[jwiley]

Worst day driving was in 2000 when we had a snow storm, at the time I lived just outside of Blackhawk and had to bring my daughter down to Denver for a doctors visit.
it took over an hour to get down the canyon, however I am native to Colorado and understand in the mountains after a snow storm it can take a while to get anywhere.
The problem I had was the accidents I saw the whole way down. The two cars in front of me and one behind me were all hit by cars coming up the canyon, and there was two or three other accidents that were along the 15 mile stretch as well, some people think because they are going up hill that they can go as fast as they want as the grade will help them stop but they forget about the corners I guess.

The other really bad day I had was in July of 2003 when I was forced to travel to the DTC for a mandatory company meeting that let out on a friday at 3:00. After the meeting I had to travel to Fort Collins to pick up family from the college. The drive from the Tech Center to Fort Collins took 5 hours, and the worst part is that my AC quit working that an hour into the trip.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by jwiley

The drive from the Tech Center to Fort Collins took 5 hours,

Why five hours in July? Was there a really big accident or something?

[jwiley]

Originally Posted by Charles

Why five hours in July? Was there a really big accident or something?

Traffic heading north for the mountains and Wyoming and who knows what, there was only one accident that I saw and that was actually at Belleview and I-25, nothing that should have affected the rest of the drive. During the summer it is usually a bad drive from the tech center to Northern Colorado and takes around 2 hours or so, but I have never seen anything like this and now if I get caught in the tech center after 3:00 on fridays I go visit friends until 6:00 or 6:30 which turns the drive into the usual hour and 15 minutes.

[laurbell]

On the light side, about a month ago or so my daughter left for school early one morning, we had a light dusting of snow and she just got her license last late spring. About 10 min later she called me crying crazy, "Mommy come get me Im on the side of 287, its scary!" I went to meet her and the roads were pretty dry just a little splash back but everyone was passing her and flipping her off cuz she was being so carefull! I drove her to school and went back and got her at lunch. The kids were coming out of school in their shorts and it was like 60 degrees by that time.