Vail asks governor for help enforcing traction law on commercial motor vehicles
VAIL, Colo. (KDVR) — The mayor of Vail says his community has had enough when it comes to commercial vehicles causing crashes.
Those crashes, the mayor of Vail says, bring the area to a standstill. The snarls can last hours, cause dangers and cost millions of dollars.
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Vail Mayor Travis Coggin is asking Governor Jared Polis and state lawmakers for help getting the problem fixed.
Coggin said the crashes happen way too often near Vail and other mountain towns.
'This affects everyone in Colorado from Golden all the way through Glenwood Canyon,' Coggin said.
He said the crashes slow down emergency vehicles in town and create headaches for people living in the area just trying to get home from work. Commercial motor vehicles not following traction laws, Coggin says, are the biggest offenders.
'We obviously have very significant impacts here on Vail Pass and then over on Eisenhower Tunnel when you have a blatant disregard for our commercial vehicles laws and the chain up that is required when we have inclement weather,' Coggin said.
The Colorado State Patrol told FOX31 that troopers issued 1,000 chain law violations in 2023 and 2024.
'This would include both proactive enforcement, such as not carrying chains, and failing to comply with chain law resulting in a road closure,' CSP Public Affairs Trooper Gabriel Moltrer said.
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Coggin pointed out that the closures can cost millions of dollars. CDOT spokesperson Charles Marsh said shutting down Interstate 70 can cost $1.6 million an hour.
'(CDOT) has partnered with the Colorado State Patrol on information campaigns to bring attention to chain laws and have enacted safety closures from time to time that are in place to try and help avoid accident closures which shut down the roads for longer periods,' Marsh said.
Vail's mayor wrote Governor Polis a letter asking for help. Coggins would like to see more speed and chain-up enforcement. He'd also like to have meetings with those who are responsible for helping make I-70 safer.
'The Governor and his administration have taken action to ensure Colorado's roads are safer for all Coloradans and the millions of visitors who travel our state each year. Improving road safety is part of Governor Polis's plan to make Colorado one of the top ten safest states in the nation and the Governor is open to discussions on how Colorado can ensure safer travel for Coloradans and visitors,' Governor's Office Deputy Press Secretary Ally Sullivan said.
Charlie Stubblefield has seen many of the crashes up close. Stubblefield owns the Mountain Recovery Towing and Mobile Mechanic Services in Silverthorne and says most crashes he has seen on the I-70 Corridor involve 18-wheelers.
'A lot of the times the people we are dealing with on the side of the road with these semis is that they don't understand that is that they need to chain their trucks up,' Stubblefield said.
Stubblefield said many of the drivers are from out of state and others have language challenges that keep them from understanding some aspects of mountain safety laws.
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'Colorado State Patrol is working proactively to educate and reach a 'transient' motoring population. Some professional drivers are from Colorado, but a significant number are from outside of our state,' Moltrer said.
Back in Vail, people say a highway shutdown creates a frenzy that can sometimes last for hours. FOX31 spoke with Jorge Chavez who works at a convenience store next to I-70. He recalled one shutdown that lasted for nine hours in Vail.
'I saw the parking lot of the McDonald's and it was like a disaster. Really bad, really bad,' Chavez said.
Many who live in this mountain community are hoping something is done to reduce the number of crashes like these soon.
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