Snowy Roads Lead To Dangerous Conditions On I-70, I-25 & Denver Metro Area Roads
WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. (CBS4) - Numerous crashes took place on roads across the Denver metro area Thursday morning as snow fell and temperatures dropped on Colorado's Front Range.
Some drivers admitted to CBS4 they were ill-prepared. Denver resident Melissa described the morning commute as "pretty crappy."
"I thought we'd get a dusting, and this was a lot more," she said. "I came out of my office and there was a lot more snow than I anticipated."
Wheat Ridge police tweeted out a photo showing a five-car crash on Interstate 70 at 8 a.m. Thursday, closing the Interstate Westbound for about 30 minutes.
Denver police tweeted an hour later that "in the past three hours, we've had 96 traffic crash reports."
"We can do this — everyone take some calming breaths, slow down, turn your lights & wipers on and we can all get to where we're going safely," Denver police wrote.
An accident on Wadsworth Boulevard over Highway 36 snarled traffic in the Broomfield area and forced the closure of Wadsworth over the Boulder Turnpike until crews could treat the icy bridge.
Highway 285 was closed at 8:30 a.m. between Bailey and Fairplay due to a crash and there were several safety closures of I-70 eastbound between Dotsero and the Eisenhower Johnson Memorial Tunnels Thursday morning for safety.
In the late morning, multiple crashes had northbound Interstate 25 shut down between County Line Road just north of Monument and Plum Creek Parkway. Sgt. Blake White with the Colorado State Patrol said there may have been more than 50 vehicles involved in multiple crashes in that stretch, including one 12-vehicle pileup. At least one person was reportedly injured but White couldn't provide any additional information.
I-25 reopened after 1 p.m.
The snow will fall through noon around Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins with accumulation generally between 1 and 3 inches in most areas. Snow will continue much longer in the foothills of Jefferson, Boulder, and Larimer Counties and therefore amounts will be higher for areas such as Evergreen, Genesse, Nederland, and Estes Park. These locations should see 3 to 7 inches of snow while the mountains (above 9,000 feet ) wills see higher amounts. Read Ashton Altieri's full forecast.
