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Pace cars begin patrolling I-70 |
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Monday, December 19, 2011 06:33 |
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Traffic backs up along Interstate 25 in this file photo.
By Caddie Nath, Summit Daily News
It seems almost counterintuitive: slowing down cars to speed up traffic.
But that is the plan the Colorado Department of Transportation put into action Sunday starting up its new pacing program on one of the first peak ski weekends of the season.
CDOT launched the program officially for the first time Sunday, controlling traffic speeds through the frequently congested Interstate 70 mountain corridor from Silverthorne all the way to Floyd Hill, where the highway widens to three lanes.
Results of several tests of the program indicate keeping cars moving at a slow, but steady speed on peak Sunday afternoons prevents backups and actually shaves minutes off the drive time, CDOT officials said.
The pacing program, also called rolling speed harmonization got under way just after 11 a.m. Sunday as traffic hit 1,900 cars per hour through the tunnel and ran 12 miles further than the most recent trial, which tested the program through Empire Junction.
Read more about the speed harmonization program and how you pace a bunch of vehicles at the Daily News website.
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