CDOT: Heavy eastbound Sunday traffic prompting stoppages at tunnel
Photo from a CDOT traffic camera looking east outside the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels shows the backup headed down toward Silver Plume nearly reaching the tunnel exit at 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
CDOT Media Release
CDOT is currently stopping eastbound traffic from entering the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels due to heavy traffic on the east side backing up into the tunnel.
When this occurs, CDOT uses 20-minute traffic stops on the west side, which it calls “metering,” in order to prevent vehicles from standing idle inside the tunnel. This is done to maintain emergency access in the event of a fire, medical emergency or other need to crews to gain access to the tunnel.
When CDOT releases the traffic, typically it catches up to the back end of the traffic jam going back to Denver, which it notes results in no actual net increase in delay for travelers.
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