CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, Colo. — Mountain living is peaceful, until the traffic hits.
"It clogs up Georgetown. It clogs up Idaho Springs when road closures on I-70 occur in their area," said Jenny Fulton with the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office.
Officials say those closures happen during winter weather when commercial vehicles don’t adhere to the state's chain laws.
"The actual closures happen when these trucks jackknife, or they're just sliding down Georgetown Hill or sliding as they're trying to go up Georgetown Hill. It's kind of scary, right?" said Clear Creek County Commissioner Rebecca Lloyd.
Lloyd and the other two Clear Creek County commissioners recently wrote to Gov. Jared Polis asking for more state resources to help the county of 9,100 residents address the issue.
"Traffic is getting backed up in these small communities because everybody's diverting off the highway into towns like Georgetown and Idaho Springs. And you could have accidents in our towns because of that, or you just have incidents that go on in town anyway, regular public safety incidents. We're not able to respond as quickly because we're working on accidents on I-70," said Fulton.
On Thursday, the Colorado State Patrol held its first weekly chain law enforcement operation, checking 174 commercial vehicles and issuing citations to nine of those drivers.
CSP is also cracking down on speeding for all vehicles as part of its operation. It said troopers are working with local agencies to ensure drivers are prepared.
It's just another step in helping counties like Clear Creek keep their residents safe.
"We have such a limited budget. We're such a tiny little county... we're doing the best we can," said Lloyd.
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