IDAHO SPRINGS, Colo. — Idaho Springs Mayor Chuck Harmon knows traffic backups and crashes are common on Interstate 70 through the Colorado mountains.
“There is hardly ever a week or a month that goes by that our police or our emergency response folks do not have a serious accident call,” Harmon said. “If we were to stand in this single location for probably just even an hour or two, we would hear squealing tires.”
New technology aims to help with that. On Tuesday, the Colorado Department of Transportation will turn on 26 variable speed limit signs on a 10-mile stretch of eastbound I-70 between Georgetown and Idaho Springs.
They’re similar to typical speed limit signs, but with a twist. CDOT said the technology will automatically adjust the speed based on congestion, traffic conditions and bad weather.
“I think this will help decrease rear-end incidents,” Harmon said. “You have a sunny day like today, and you think, ‘Well surely, I can go 65. There couldn’t possibly be a danger ahead.’ What you don’t know is just a quarter mile ahead there’s a backup with people barely crawling.”
A CDOT spokesperson said the signs themselves aren’t new. They were installed in 2022. But the technology to operate them in real time has been in the testing phase until this week.
“The key purpose behind the new signs is to improve safety on the I-70 mountain corridor,” said Jessica Myklebust, director of CDOT’s Region 1, covering the Denver metro area. “VSLs react to real-time congestion and incidents on the corridor, reducing speeds to a reasonable limit when needed. This helps to prevent crashes and ‘stop and go’ traffic. VSLs have been shown to improve safety and operations on highways nationwide.”
“I have to believe that it is going to make a difference, and I applaud the effort,” Harmon said.
Like any other speed limit, variable speed limits are enforceable. Driving at a speed higher than the posted limit can result in a speeding ticket.
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