CDOT expecting large Memorial Day weekend travel numbers

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – Those at the Colorado Department of Transportation say massively crowded roads are a sign the Memorial Day holiday weekend is underway.

AAA forecasts 43.8 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more this holiday weekend, with 38.4 million expected to drive.

Traffic clogged roads around Colorado Springs on Friday. 11 News talked to drivers who said the impact depended on which direction they were headed in.

Pamela Doherty said her trip from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Colorado Springs took about 6.5 to 7 hours.

“It was pretty average, I come up about three or four times a year,” she said. “Traffic wasn’t too bad coming north, going south it was pretty heavy, all the way in New Mexico and Colorado.”

AAA analyzed the best and worst times to be out on the road over the weekend:

CDOT officials said they were already seeing heavy traffic across the state early Friday afternoon.

“I-70 is already getting pretty loaded up heading westbound out of the front range, out of the Denver metro area, and we’re seeing that along some other mountain highways heading west out of Colorado Springs and Pueblo,” statewide communications manager Bob Wilson said.

Wilson said despite a massive increase in the volume of vehicles, they said they don’t usually see a large increase in the number of crashes.

“You see a little bit of an increase but not to the point that you’re saying, ‘This is a really bad situation’”, he said. “People tend to pay attention a little bit more because they’re dealing with more vehicles on the roadway.”

Wilson said drivers should also give themselves plenty of time.

“Patience is key when people are out traveling with this many vehicles, a lot of people aren’t used to this much traffic because it’s been a while since we’ve had a nice long summer weekend,” he said

Wilson also warned travelers to be aware that some seasonal roads are still not open.

“Mount Blue Sky, which was previously known as Mount Evans, will not be open this weekend, same goes for Independence Pass, it will remain closed,” he said. “Tentatively we’re scheduled to reopen it on June 1.”

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