Governor signs bill banning truckers from left lane on some parts of I-70
Kit Geary/Summit Daily News
Semitrailers traveling through Colorado will soon no longer be allowed to use the left lane when traveling in certain high-risk areas of Interstate 70 after Gov. Jared Polis on Monday signed a bill creating the restriction.
“Ensuring that our roads and highways are safe is important, especially here in Colorado’s High Country, and these bills help accomplish that,” Polis said through a spokesperson.
The left lane restrictions, which will begin in August, are along Glenwood Canyon, Dowd Junction, Vail Pass, Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels, Georgetown Hill and Floyd Hill.
Truckers will be alerted to the new rules through existing video boards and new physical signs.
Senate Bill 100, brought by Western Slope lawmakers, also expands where truckers are required to carry chains during winter months. Each year from Sept.1 to May 31, they will be required to carry chains when traveling on:
- I-70: West of Morrison
- State Highway 9: From Frisco to Fairplay
- U.S. Route 40: West of Empire
- U.S. Route 50: West of Salida
- U.S. Route 160: West of Walsenburg
- U.S. Route 285: West of Morrison
- All of U.S. Route 550
The bill also requires the Colorado Department of Transportation to look into whether the state should temporarily close roadways to truckers during snowstorms.
Glenwood Canyon is also now a “heightened speed limit enforcement zone,” which means commercial vehicles will be subject to double the fees for speeding in the area, under the bill.
The measure changed in several ways as it traveled through the legislature, with the lane limitations and chain requirements being somewhat narrowed along the way.
The sponsors of the bipartisan bill were Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, Sen. Perry Will, R-New Castle, Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, D-Glenwood Springs, and Rep. Rick Taggart, R-Grand Junction.
The bill signing took place in Gypsum during an all-day bill signing tour throughout the Western Slope. Polis also signed bills related to wildfire and water, including a bill to place a question on the November ballot allowing the state to use all sports betting taxes collected, rather than refunding anything over $29 million. If approved by voters, that revenue would be used for the state’s water plan.
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