COLORADO SPRINGS — Safety experts aren’t wasting any time to make the message loud and clear: do not get on the road during this weekend’s winter storm.
“It’s going to be a very busy rest of the week,” CDOT Spokesperson Michelle Peulen said.
With the possibility we’ll be measuring snow in feet, not inches this weekend, CDOT crews are already prepping.
“Across the state there will be several hundred pieces of snow-fighting equipment,” Peulen said.
Even with the storm still a few days out, they’re not taking any chances.
“It’s definitely the type of storm we will have a full call-out for,” she said.
And neither should you.
“This is not the type of storm you want to be out in,” she said.
This storm is not like the others we’ve seen this year.
“The difference with this storm is the duration,” Peulen said. “We’re not looking at two to three hours of snowfall, we’re looking at two or three days.”
Don’t think your four-wheel-drive or snow tires can get you through this one. They can’t.
“Snow tires, all of those things that we do to prepare our cars can’t help us with visibility issues,” Peulen said.
With visibility expected to be a major issue this weekend, you can expect CDOT to take some early action.
“When we start seeing conditions get very bad, we’re gonna in advance do what we call a safety closure,” she said.
It means roads like I-25 and I-70 could close to traffic.
“When we say a road is closed like I-25, that doesn’t necessarily mean find an alternate route,” she said.
Odds are, if the interstate is bad, every other road is worse.
“That really means, in this situation, find a safe place to wait it out,” she said.
Or better yet heed the experts’ early warnings.
“If you’re not essential and you have the ability to stay home, please make plans in advance to be home Saturday and Sunday,” Peulen said.
