CDOT photo
CDOT crews execute snow removal operations on Berthoud Pass from Jan. 18, 2024.
Colorado's high country has experienced conditions closely reminiscent of the March 2019 ‘bomb cyclone' event that closed much of the state's mountain highways for an extended period. Storm totals have surged up to 60 in. since Fri., Jan. 12 at many of Colorado's ski resorts.
U.S. 40 Berthoud Pass was one of the most impacted roadways during the course of the storm, having closed on Sun., Jan. 14, and not reopening until the evening of Wed., Jan. 17, due to natural avalanche slides and ongoing adverse conditions. Crews cleared 5 ft. of new snow from the roadway and nearby banks above the road during the severe winter storm.
During the first half of the storm, from Jan. 13 through Jan. 16, Colorado Department of Transportation crews reported 32 bank slides, though more may have occurred. During the closure, bank slides took place along nearly the entire length of U.S. 40 Berthoud Pass. One example of the storm's severity and snowfall is an unusual slide at Mile Point 235.6, just east of the Mary Jane access to Winter Park Ski Resort. A bank slide at that location was the first observed slide in at least 30 years in that location. The slide was 200 yds. long and 10 ft. to 12 ft. high across U.S. 40, which delayed clearing snow from Berthoud Pass and reopening the roadway. In addition to the significant fresh snow totals, strong winds and a weak snowpack layer contributed to conditions leading to many bank slides.
"CDOT crews have been working continuously for a week to clear our roadways and avalanche slide paths to either safely keep open or reopen roads and to ensure the movement of the traveling public and the goods they depend on," said John Lorme, CDOT's director of maintenance and operations. "For this team, our mission matters most. While the closures this past week were an inconvenience to motorists, we are proud of the proactive measures we took to close the roads when the conditions were unsafe for the traveling public. We helped minimize the number of crashes on our roadways with our safety closures. We are also proud of our continuing strong partnerships with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center and the Colorado State Patrol. It is unity of effort that gets the job done. We work as one team to strategize on the best ways to keep our roads operational, as weather and circumstances allow, knowing that public safety is our number one concern. We wargame the worst-case scenarios before they happen and implement plans to help prevent those scenarios from coming to fruition, as was the case with our closures on Berthoud Pass and Vail Pass."
Crews continue their work after moving snow another 4 ft. to 6 ft. further to the side of the roadway. This work is necessary to make room for the next round of snow. Currently, snow is approximately 8 ft. high along the roadway. As many as 16 crew members have been part of clearing operations during any given time, using loaders, loaders with blowers, motor graders and snowplows.
"Our crews were relentless in their work to clear the roadways and mitigate avalanche slide paths," said CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew. "I am proud of the work our maintenance and operations team have done and want to thank all of them for dedicating a tremendous amount of hours that kept them from friends and family in order to serve the people of Colorado. I especially want to thank our maintenance crews from Section 2, who oversee the central mountains and part of the northwest portion of the state and are led by John David; Section 6, who oversee northwest Colorado and are led by Spencer Dickey, and Section 9, who manage I-70 and U.S. 40 through Clear Creek County and are led by Mike Willyard. They have worked tirelessly to open up our roads and make sure the traveling public stays safe. I would also like to thank our crews that came from other regions of the state to help their fellow maintainers and continue to prove they are dedicated and selfless individuals."
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