Officials To Try Out Rolling Roadblocks On I-70 This Weekend
SILVERTHORNE, Colo. (CBS4) - State transportation officials and the Colorado State Patrol have a new plan to ease traffic on Interstate 70 around the Eisenhower Tunnel. This weekend they will test out a system using pace cars.
The cars will lead vehicles down eastbound Interstate 70 at speeds between 45 and 55 mph.
Colorado State Patrol or a Silverthorne police car will turn on its emergency lights and merge ahead of traffic starting just east of the Silverthorne exchange to pace traffic.
It's often referred to as a rolling roadblock.
"We're going to do some research using cameras and laser devices to measure speed. We'll see how traffic responds to our escort, how it behaves," Colorado State Patrol Cpt. Ron Prater said.
The pace method could take the place of a metering technique that has been used previously, where CDOT stops vehicles from entering the tunnel, allowing to traffic to clear before releasing more vehicles.
"We've received a lot of feedback from the traveling public that they don't like the metering operations we do at the tunnel -- that traffic gets very heavy," CDOT spokesman Bob Wilson said.,
Prater says the method is won't cost much and is "relatively low tech."
"Our goal is to harmonize the speeds and reduce traffic crashes and traffic incidences," Prater said.
Other states have had success with the rolling roadblock concept, including Florida, Nebraska and Virginia.
Testing will take place on Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Pace cars will depart every 10 minutes.
If the test seems to work another test will take place in late September.
