DENVER — Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and agencies across the state are making preparations for the latest round of winter weather.
CDOT is preparing for a long-duration snow event as Denver and the Front Range could see nonstop snow for 24 hours or perhaps longer.
Meteorologists say that although the snow begins falling Tuesday afternoon, the heaviest snow and highest impacts will likely be on Wednesday morning. Both the Wednesday morning and evening commutes will be disrupted by snow.
CDOT said drivers along the Front Range, particularly the I-25 corridor, should be prepared for adverse conditions with the brunt of the impacts hitting overnight Tuesday and Wednesday morning with six inches to a foot of snow along and west of I-25 with higher amounts possible in the foothills. Eight to eighteen inches are expected in the southern mountains and foothills.
CDOT plans to have more than 100 plows on the roads during the storm, even while they are short-staffed. CDOT said it will focus first on the interstates and other major state-maintained roadways with the highest traffic volumes. Once the storm subsides, crews will plow other state routes.
The City of Denver is preparing to deploy its big plows to the main streets and residential plows to the side streets once the snow begins to fall. Denver residential plow drivers will work a 12-hour shift from 3 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, utilizing a fleet of small snow plows to help provide a path for residents to get to the main streets.
Crews in Boulder also began pre-treating the roads Tuesday to reduce build-up of snow and ice.
CDOT said they are ready to tackle this storm despite a driver shortage.
"Just like other industry sectors, we do have a driver shortage, but what’s important is we have a deep bench and we started out with a lot of drivers and so we are using our resources as efficiently as possible," CDOT spokesperson Tamara Rollison said. "We just urge motorists to drive as safely as possible and if they can stay home, that's a good idea too."
"What we have done with the driver shortage is if there's areas of the metro area that are under control that may not need any more plowing, if needed, we will deploy those plows to other areas of the metro region to take care of what needs to be taken care of," Rollison said. "Mother Nature is going to do her thing. We all have to respect that."
CDOT is hiring a variety of positions, including some entry-level positions that could pay about $45,000 a year. They're also offering a housing stipend for some locations.
9NEWS reached out to the city of Denver to see if they were dealing with a plow driver shortage, and they said they are "adequately staffed."
If you’re looking for the current location of plows, Denver Public Works and CDOT each have tracking maps.
CDOT, Denver Public Works and area counties will plow heavily-traveled roads first before moving onto ones that don’t see as much traffic and emphasis will be placed on areas around hospitals and schools.
FORECAST: Full forecast
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RELATED: Here are the shoveling rules around the Denver metro area
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