OFFICIAL I70 BITCH THREAD....

[Soups]

So glad I got the goods on Friday/Saturday in Steamboat and decided to skip Sunday and just roll home around 9:30am. By the time we were headed up the hill at 10:30am it was already getting busy, but moving well. You could tell it was going to be horrific later on.

[cmsummit]

So glad I got the goods on Friday/Saturday in Steamboat and decided to skip Sunday and just roll home around 9:30am. By the time we were headed up the hill at 10:30am it was already getting busy, but moving well, you could tell it was going to be horrific later on.

Wise choice.

[viglio]

I think that it'd be cool if there was one weekend where none of the mountain town put on a stupid event. Nothing to draw people up from Denver, just a good old fashioned regular ass weekend. Let's just have fun and ski without a fucking bacon festival or some dumb shit to draw 10 million people to the mountains.

Get's pretty old when every weekend is a holiday, festival, event, etc. Come on people, let's have a "Stay the Fuck in Denver" festival where we close the tunnel and pass for Thursday-Sunday.

I lived in Estes for a good while, talk about festival fever. The same town puts one on nearly every weekend August-Nov.

[skiracer88_00]

Bitch all you want, but until Coloradans vote to fund beefing up our infrastructure, this is the new normal. This shit is fixable and self-inflicted. Imagine if Coloradans never supported the original construction of I70 through the mountains. We would still be driving on a two lane road.

I took the kids to X games Saturday night and yesterday, we basically had Aspen highlands all to ourselves. Cruised from Aspen to Silverthorne, no traffic. 1.5 hours from silverthorne to tunnel (at 8:00 pm!), then cruised from the tunnel home with no traffic. Still had a great weekend, and didn't let the traffic ruin it for us.

OTOH, metering at the tunnel is great for those who ski Loveland.

[summit]

Bitch all you want, but until Coloradans vote to fund beefing up our infrastructure, this is the new normal.

Disagree... increased capacity will just mean more people come up. Clearly people are willing to suffer at this level. We'll just have more people and the same level of suffering.

The only thing I can think of that could make a meaningful difference is opening a mega resort at Twin Cone Peaks off 285 and/or building a highway up to Moffat East Portal and putting a megaresort there.

[The SnowShow]

Or make 285 a real highway and bore through Mosquito Pass to the Leadville area.

But I agree: it’s a valve. Easier access = even more tourists in towns. Keep it the way it is. I just cannot believe people put up with that shit. And I do think many just get a few runs in and eat. Ski tourists is right.

I’ll just keep skiing weekdays.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Is this thread on the proper repeat loop?

The mountain towns don't care about I 70 traffic. They do care about when I 70 traffic backs up into said towns.

The idea that increasing capacity for those choosing to travel in order to recreate in the mountains at peak times would be a priority for the voters of Colorado is kinda laughable.

The problem is the people and not the road. It sucks, but the joke is on us. Think about traffic problems elsewhere in the US and what is being done about it.

[skaredshtles]

<snip>

The problem is the people and not the road.

It's kind of a shame that we don't have some sort of, I don't know, robot-driven cars or something that would allow us to avoid the human-driver-issue.

[skiracer88_00]

Disagree... increased capacity will just mean more people come up. Clearly people are willing to suffer at this level. We'll just have more people and the same level of suffering.

The only thing I can think of that could make a meaningful difference is opening a mega resort at Twin Cone Peaks off 285 and/or building a highway up to Moffat East Portal and putting a megaresort there.

Disagree, Adding additional lanes and tolling them seems to work well at reducing overall traffic in the Denver area. Traffic used to back up EB from empire to Floyd Hill without the toll lane. Now traffic rarely backs up in that location.

An additional success story with this model is US36 Denver to Boulder .

[The SnowShow]

Is this where the “build a train” fits into the loop?

[adrenalated]

The real problem is the "peak hours" part.

If anyone wants to take a meaningful step towards reducing traffic congestion, please feel free to compose a strongly worded letter to my boss encouraging him to let me work remotely and with flexible hours.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Disagree, Adding additional lanes and tolling them seems to work well at reducing overall traffic in the Denver area. Traffic used to back up EB from empire to Floyd Hill without the toll lane. Now traffic rarely backs up in that location.

I think the analogy here is moving the valve. The other all capacity of Denver>Summit hasn't changed, you just moved the bottleneck.

Yesterday, XXX people were willing to sit it traffic for YYY time to go skiing. Your argument is that XXX is a constant and increasing capacity will decrease time to go skiing. Summits point is that YYY is the constant and if capacity is increased more people will drive the road until the time is YYY.

The equation is of coarse way more complicated that that and involves factors like , price of passes, perceived quality of skiing, weather, tires etc...

[skaredshtles]

Disagree, Adding additional lanes and tolling them seems to work well at reducing overall traffic in the Denver area. Traffic used to back up EB from empire to Floyd Hill without the toll lane. Now traffic rarely backs up in that location.

An additional success story with this model is US36 Denver to Boulder .

It's really a shame that they can't make the *entire* I-70 section from Golden to Vail toll during normal congestion periods.

[Foggy_Goggles]

If anyone wants to take a meaningful step towards reducing traffic congestion, please feel free to compose a strongly worded letter to my boss encouraging him to let me work remotely and with flexible hours.

This can be arraigned.

[The SnowShow]

Close I70 EB on Friday night, WB on Sunday night. Double road capacity.

[skaredshtles]

This can be arraigned.

[goldenboy]

Official estimate for skier visits in Crested Butte yesterday was 2100. #redheadedstepchildofEpic

[hatchgreenchile]

I'd love to see an example where shitty infrastructure was left as is to serve as a "valve".
If we had the means to upgrade the corridor (entirely different conversation), I don't see how that rational would ever fly.

[Foggy_Goggles]

I'd love to see an example where shitty infrastructure was left as is to serve as a "valve".

Every method of transportation in and out of Manhattan with exception of the new Tappan Zee. Same for San Fran. Same for LA. LCC. BCC. I-80. Roads to the Beach in RI. Cape Cod etc.

Places get busy. People either deal with it, don't or quit. Those that quit are replaced.

Everybody bitches. The front range appears to be uniquely special it that people expect that the changes in other people's behavior and the government owe them a solution.

[smmokan]

Official estimate for skier visits in Crested Butte yesterday was 2100. #redheadedstepchildofEpic

The Epic Pass doesn't change the fact that it's 4+ hours from Denver to CB on a good day. Hell, even Beaver Creek is empty most days during the week... I'm shocked how few people ski here Monday-Friday, even when they report 6+.

[Name Redacted]

Official estimate for skier visits in Crested Butte yesterday was 2100. #redheadedstepchildofEpic

Hey, any idea from you CB folks of how the IFSA juniors freeride comp thing this next weekend will affect terrain being open? Headed down for a few days and if all the steeps are closed for the event, I might tour instead and skip the resort.

[goldenboy]

The Epic Pass doesn't change the fact that it's 4+ hours from Denver to CB on a good day. Hell, even Beaver Creek is empty most days during the week... I'm shocked how few people ski here Monday-Friday, even when they report 6+.

Yep. Though this thread makes it sound like that's less time than summit-Denver half the time

Shredgnar- No idea. Currently, only Headwall, Teo, Glades, and Sock it to Me ridge are open. Which really only leaves the Headwall and Sock it to Me as logical venues. I wouldn't be too surprised for front side to open. Phoenix Spellbound sounds like a war zone that needs a large refill.

[Danno]

Disagree, Adding additional lanes and tolling them seems to work well at reducing overall traffic in the Denver area. Traffic used to back up EB from empire to Floyd Hill without the toll lane. Now traffic rarely backs up in that location.

An additional success story with this model is US36 Denver to Boulder .

are these real success stories, or did they kick the can down the road a few years. I am on 36 every day, and while it is vastly improved from where it was pre-express lane, I can't help but think that in a few years, people will be having the same debate about it.

[hatchgreenchile]

Every method of transportation in and out of Manhattan with exception of the new Tappan Zee. Same for San Fran. Same for LA. LCC. BCC. I-80. Roads to the Beach in RI. Cape Cod etc.
.

I think you're seriously underestimating some recently completed infrastructure projects, and a few that are "in process", especially in CA, but whatever.

They are not leaving infrastructure "as is" to throttle growth & visitation. The real problem is that the general public doesn't want to pay for upgrades or more efficient means of travel, and that's on us. Not sure how you fix that easily.

[Name Redacted]

Shredgnar- No idea. Currently, only Headwall, Teo, Glades, and Sock it to Me ridge are open. Which really only leaves the Headwall and Sock it to Me as logical venues. I wouldn't be too surprised for front side to open. Phoenix Spellbound sounds like a war zone that needs a large refill.

Cool, just wondering. I'll figure it out. Thanks. I hate when I show up at a resort only to find that the best terrain is closed for an event, but we are there for a few extra days so I'll get mine. We'll probably poke around in the backcountry around there, but conservatively as I've been seeing scary shit coming out of that zone.