Commercial vehicles, including semitrailers, would be prohibited from traveling in the left lane on Interstate 70 between Morrison and Glenwood Springs under a bill being debated in the legislature aimed at stopping wrecks along the heavily traveled high country route.
Senate Bill 100 would only offer an exception for a semitrailer passing a vehicle traveling below the posted speed limit.
Commercial vehicles are defined in Colorado as ones used for commerce that weigh at least 16,001 pounds, including those designed to transport 16 or more passengers.
The measure, which has bipartisan sponsorship, would also require that commercial vehicles carry chains on Interstate 25 and any state or U.S. highway to the west of I-25 from Sept. 1 through May 25. Currently, that requirement applies only to trucks traveling on I-70 between Morrison and Dotsero.
“A lot of the wrecks that we’ve seen over the last few winters have been a direct result of semis speeding in the left lane trying to pass other cars,” said Sen. Dylan Roberts, a Frisco Democrat and one of the lead sponsors of the bill. “That’s a completely avoidable accident.”
Sen. Perry Will, a New Castle Republican and another lead sponsor of the bill, said any step that can keep the I-70 corridor open needs to be taken. (The state has already barred semitrailers from traveling in the left lane through Glenwood Canyon.)
But the trucking industry is balking at the idea.
Greg Fulton, who leads the Colorado Motor Carriers Association, said the bill, while well intended, would have unintended consequences.
Blocking semitrailers from the left lane on I-70 could cause truckers who typically travel from Denver to the Western Slope and back on the same day to hit their 11-hour duty limit, which would force them into a 10-hour rest period. That would have the effect of driving up delivery costs.
He’s most concerned, however, about the expanded chain requirement.
“We’re talking about thousands and thousands of vehicles that don’t ever travel into the high country — and in most cases don’t travel when the weather gets bad,” Fulton said.
Chains cost between $100 and $200 a vehicle. Fulton estimates that Senate Bill 100 would require chains to be bought for tens of thousands of vans, trucks and semitrailers.
“We need to have a greater level of study or analysis on this before taking that action,” he said.
Senate Bill 100 would also make Glenwood Canyon a heightened speed enforcement zone where commercial vehicle drivers who travel faster than the posted limit would be subject to increased penalties. Finally, the measure would require the Colorado Department of Transportation to study how and where to build new chain-up stations across the state.
Will and Roberts said they’ve been working with CDOT and the Colorado State Patrol on the legislation.
“We kind of just want to put Colorado on the map of: If you’re coming into Colorado, you need to have chains,” Roberts said.
Passenger vehicles traveling between Morrison and Dotsero on Interstate 70 are required from Sept. 1 to May 31 to be all-wheel drive, four-wheel drive or to have snow, mud or all-season tires or be carrying chains or another approved traction device, such as a tire sock.
The bill was assigned to the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee. Its first hearing hasn’t been scheduled yet.