Saturday Snow Causes Wrecks & Traffic Backups Across Metro Area
DENVER (CBS4) – Saturday's snow caused rough rides, wrecks and road closures on interstates and side streets throughout the Denver metro area and beyond.
The Colorado Department of Transportation warned that roadways could become even more icy overnight as temperatures drop.
"It's pretty slick," said one driver in Castle Rock. "You could feel the snow kick up behind your tires."
Slick stretches along Interstate 25 were slippery enough to cause a car to spin out Saturday evening near the Ridgegate Parkway exit in Lone Tree.
Two drivers who witnessed the wreck stopped to help. One of them was Ron Sparks, coming home from a sport activity.
"We came across this young lady who looks like she had maybe hit the median and spun around and was sitting sideways in the #2 lane," Sparks said. "She was pretty shaken up."
Farther south in Castle Rock, some residents, like Reed Edwards, opted to stay inside until well after the snowfall came to a stop.
"We just stayed inside and waited for the roads to clear up a little bit," Edwards told CBS4's Melissa Garcia.
The nasty road conditions, however, did not keep everyone inside.
After working a full shift that left inches of snow piled up on her car, Pam Schnakenberg said that the barber shop where she works stayed busy all day long. She planned to be extra careful driving home.
"I grew up in Colorado so I can do it," Schnakenberg said. "It's the other (drivers) that are scary."
In Denver's Capitol Hill neighborhood, snowfall built up on Lincoln Street. Lincoln near 13th Avenue was the site of just one of many fender benders where police and emergency crews responded to weather-related wrecks.
A driver heading west on 13th Avenue turning onto Lincoln Street was unable to stop before plowing into a passenger-packed city bus.
Farther West near Lookout Mountain, Interstate 70 came to a halt earlier in the afternoon when a jackknifed semi sprawled across all three lanes of traffic.
Despite the blistering cold, the white weekend blanket leaves some Coloradans hoping for more substantial February flurries.
"I want to see 4 feet (or) 5 feet," said Schnakenberg. "That's how Colorado used to be."
Melissa Garcia has been reporting for CBS4 News since March 2014. Find her bio here, follow her on Twitter @MelissaGarciaTV, or send your story idea to mkgarcia@cbs.com.
