As of 5 p.m., the Denver Police Department reported that a 15-car wreck with no serious injuries happened at the Auraria on-ramp to Interstate 25 southbound. The Colorado State Patrol in Golden said they were so busy they couldn't tweet around 4:40 p.m. And that's nothing to talk of the numerous and continual road closures in the mountains.
That's not even including the 22-car wreck on I-70 near Colorado.
Cpl. Ivan Alvarado with CSP told 9NEWS they received calls about more than 150 wrecks in the metro area alone on Sunday. He clarified that troopers don't respond to every call - sometimes another law enforcement agency does.
Amazingly, Alvarado said they'd responded to not a single serious bodily injury crash (their term for a crash with serious injuries).
The Colorado Department of Transportation Twitter account is keeping track of every road closure and every new traction law in place in real time. It's a good resource to use when traveling on snowy days like Sunday.
The Winter Weather Advisory for most of the metro area has been extended to midnight, meaning drivers can expect poor conditions on roadways through Monday.
Tamara Rollison, a CDOT spokesperson, said that her department is battling these road conditions in full force. There are about 100 plows per shift going at any given time in weather like this in the metro area - drivers work 12-hour shifts, Rollison said.
For CDOT, Interstate 70 and I-25 are the top priorities, with C-470 coming in close behind, followed by the less traveled roads in our area. Road workers have seen many drivers spin out on ramps and overpasses, and crashes throughout the state on and off throughout Sunday, Rollison said.
While many ramps and roads have been closed down, Rollison called it a pretty standard snow event to begin the season; it's had mostly light snow (sorry, Boulder) with wet and icy spots. She called the weather manageable and said her department has managed weather much worse than this.
SNOW TOTALS | Found out where the most snow fell in Colorado on Sunday
But for motorists in the metro area? Rollison called Sunday's weather a wake-up call. She said the biggest contributor for crashes is people not driving for the conditions. There have been about four or five major wrecks in the Denver area leading to some short-term closures.
Rollison said that when westbound I-70 went down at Colorado, it was their most severe closure of the day. The ramp from U.S. 6 to eastbound C-470 also had to be shut down for some time due to several motorists spinning out.
INTERACTIVE RADAR | Winter Weather Advisory extended to midnight
CDOT approaches Sunday's weather the same way as they'd approach a blizzard: Rollison said the department is going all out and can always ramp down if the need be. Road workers will stay on the roads throughout the night but report not too much accumulation as of 4:30 p.m.
