{"id":794699,"date":"2019-04-10T17:52:01","date_gmt":"2019-04-10T23:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/gov-polis-signs-bill-requiring-study-of-allowing-hazmat-vehicles-through-eisenhower-tunnel\/"},"modified":"2019-04-10T17:52:01","modified_gmt":"2019-04-10T23:52:01","slug":"gov-polis-signs-bill-requiring-study-of-allowing-hazmat-vehicles-through-eisenhower-tunnel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/gov-polis-signs-bill-requiring-study-of-allowing-hazmat-vehicles-through-eisenhower-tunnel\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Polis signs bill requiring study of allowing hazmat vehicles through Eisenhower Tunnel"},"content":{"rendered":"
Summit Fire & EMS truck specifically used for hazardous materials emergency situations on Wednesday, Feb. 6, at Station 2 in Frisco.<\/strong>
Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

White knuckles may soon be a thing of the past for truckers carrying hazardous materials through the mountain corridor.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill into law<\/a> requiring the Colorado Department of Transportation to conduct a study assessing the feasibility of allowing the transportation of hazardous materials through the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels, and under what conditions it would be allowed.<\/p>\n

While some are still concerned about potential safety issues, support for launching the study was widespread at the state legislature with unanimous votes in favor of the bill in both the House and Senate. The bill also had support from members of the trucking industry<\/a> looking to improve safety for their drivers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis brings everybody together for a formalized, detailed, science-based conversation about it,\u201d said Grier Bailey, executive director of the Colorado Wyoming Petroleum Marketers Association. \u201cWhat the bill did was formalize the process of identifying the goal posts, and bringing the people with expertise into the same room to make those determinations. \u2026 It\u2019s been a long discussion, and we\u2019re trying to make a very measured step forward in that discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now that the bill has passed, CDOT will begin an extensive research process with hopes of providing a final risk analysis study by the end of next year. As part of the study, CDOT will gather input from a number of organizations within Summit County, including the county itself, Summit Fire & EMS, the towns of Dillon and Silverthorne, Keystone Resort, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area and a number of others outside the county.<\/p>\n

Once completed, state lawmakers are hoping the study provides a conclusive analysis of levels and types of risk in regards to eastbound versus westbound hazmat transportation, potential limitations on days or times it would be allowed, and whether the transportation of gasoline, diesel and petroleum should have different requirements from other hazardous materials. In addition, the study will look at what improvements could be made to Interstate 70 and Loveland Pass to reduce risks.<\/p>\n

For officials, the priority is emphasizing public safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a public safety organization, that\u2019s our sole concern, making sure whatever we allow doesn\u2019t create safety hazards,\u201d said Steve Lipsher, spokesman for Summit Fire & EMS. \u201cIf we can be confident that any changes in the laws also come with appropriate safeguards, that might be workable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lipsher noted that the biggest concern in allowing hazmat trucks through the tunnel is the potential for a big fire, which given the length of the tunnels could mean serious difficulty for people in danger trying to escape and for emergency workers trying to get to the blaze. In 2016, CDOT installed a $25 million fire suppression system in the tunnel<\/a>, though the system isn\u2019t equipped to handle a large-scale hazmat fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf something happens in the middle of it, it could be a real danger to other motorists, to anyone involved in the incident and also to emergency response workers<\/a> who are going to try and solve the crisis,\u201d continued Lipsher.<\/p>\n

While Loveland Pass is much less confined and easier to access for emergency workers, it comes with its fair share of dangers. And for truck drivers, the narrow switchbacks and steep drop-offs can be especially treacherous.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing over Loveland Pass, it\u2019s one of the most hazardous roadways for trucking in the country,\u201d said Greg Fulton, president of the Colorado Motor Carriers Association. \u201cA lot of that\u2019s because you\u2019ve got steep downgrades, switchbacks, weather that comes in fast, winds up to 100 mph and almost no shoulders. You add those things together, it\u2019s not only very challenging, but it\u2019s very physically challenging on a driver.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fulton noted that a major concern was drivers physically exerting themselves on the roadway, especially those who travel from sea level up to almost 12,000 feet in elevation and have to spend 40 minutes outside putting chains on their tires in low oxygen.<\/p>\n

The study will be completed by Dec. 1, 2020, at which point state officials will have to decide whether or not they want to move forward with allowing the transportation of hazardous materials through the tunnels.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a study that needs to happen,\u201d said Summit County Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons. \u201cWe have to find other viable routes for hazmat. I\u2019m curious to see how this turns out, with the influx of traffic especially. I think all eyes are going to be on this study.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summit Fire & EMS truck specifically used for hazardous materials emergency situations on Wednesday, Feb. 6, at Station 2 in Frisco.Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com White knuckles may soon be a thing of the past for truckers carrying hazardous materials through the mountain corridor. On Tuesday, Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill into law requiring the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-794699","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-14 12:05:49","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794699\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}