Drivers Returns To I-70 To Dig Out Vehicles They Left Behind
GENESEE, Colo. (CBS4)- Dozens of drivers traveled back to the trouble spot at Interstate 70 where they had to leave their vehicles once I-70 closed.
The Colorado Department of Transportation closed all lanes of I-70 at approximately 8 p.m. Wednesday from Idaho Springs to C-470 in Jefferson County west of Denver due to multiple accidents.
When the wait got to be too much, some drivers left their cars overnight.
"We came home last night and my Mini Cooper couldn't make it up the hill so I had to leave it here and now it's a pile of ice," said Genesee resident John Lowe.
"Mini Coopers don't have a lot of clearance when you have 10½ of snow," said Lisa Lowe.
LINK: Winter Driving Tips
It all started with a semi accident eastbound and as the storm became worse, traffic was diverted to U.S. 40 and then there were more accidents there. Both directions were shut down, at times, for hours.
"A bunch of them slid into me. We were sitting in the car and every few seconds we would hear another one hit," said one driver.
The Colorado Department of Transportation helped out as much as they could but it was a bad time for drivers heading to the mountains regardless of what route they took.
"What we do is we have very active management out there on those corridors now so you are going to see us out there, managing accidents with the Colorado State Patrol, trying to move them as quickly as possible and stopping or detouring traffic as we need to," said CDOT spokeswoman Amy Ford.
