The Vail Daily reports that the I-70 closure due to the Glenwood Canyon rockslide has generated several requests that Eagle County open Cottonwood Pass to thru traffic. While it does appear on local maps, the gravel road is not maintained for winter travel.

According to Brad Higgins, Eagle County’s Director of Road and Bridge, Cottonwood Pass, which connects Gypsum to Cattle Creek south of Glenwood Springs, closes every winter from the end of November until mid-April. “Cottonwood Pass has never been maintained in the winter, nor is it designed to handle a high volume of vehicles, so to simply open it to traffic is not an option,” said Higgins.

Go to the Vail Daily to see the entire item.

CDOT says the current plan for closed I-70 through Glenwood Canyon is to repair a large hole in the eastbound structure, then reopen it to one lane in each direction. That would allow traffic to resume while repairs are made on the larger hole in the westbound structure.

CDOT stopped eastbound traffic from entering the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels Sunday afternoon and evening due to heavy traffic backing up into the tunnel. When this occurs, CDOT uses 20-minute traffic stops on the west side, which it calls “metering,” in order to prevent vehicles from standing idle inside the tunnel.

The Vail Daily reports that Sen. Dan Gibbs wants to improve Interstate 70 mountain traffic flow by keeping large commercial trucks out of the fast lane on steeper grades.

Three West Slope transportation projects are going forward with new funding from revenues the state gets from commercial leases of federal lands for energy production. Road projects in Parachute, Grand Junction and Delta are sharing a $17 million pool of federal mineral leasing funds with a fourth project that will extend broadband communications lines in southwest Colorado.

Starting at midnight on Friday night, weather permitting, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) will completely close the ramp from eastbound I-270 to I-70 for paving operations. The ramp will reopen by 5:30 a.m. on Monday.

The Colorado Department of Transportation has put 40 highway and airport projects totaling $136.8 million on its wish list for federal grants in 2011.

The Summit Daily News reports that the Colorado Department of Transportation plans to install at least 10 more cameras along the Interstate 70 mountain corridor in the coming months.

The road cameras, available through www.cotrip.org and www.goi70.com as well as a local television station, offer viewers glimpses of traffic and road conditions.

The new cameras are to be installed between Frisco and Vail, as fiber optics over the pass have been extended, said Rodrick Mead, operations manager with Colorado Transportation Management Center.

Go to the Summit Daily News to see the entire article.

The Summit County Citizens Voice reports that Colorado Department of Transportation officials have told Summit County commissioners that traffic stops at the Eisenhower Tunnel are for the safety of motorists, which is CDOT’s top priority.

CDOT Traffic Alert

Clear Creek County – The Colorado Department of Transportation will be stopping traffic in both directions of I-70 for 20 minutes at a time this week for rock-scaling operations at Georgetown Hill. Traffic will be stopped on I-70 westbound at Georgetown and eastbound at Silver Plume between the hours of 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., Tuesday though Thursday (February 5-7). Please note, traffic may be held for up to 20 minutes at a time.

Motorists should expect delays during this time period and are encouraged to plan accordingly. CDOT apologizes for any inconvenience caused by this important safety project.