I-70 labor day weekend advice

[gspup]

Leaving before 6 am is the way to go. It's funny to hear everybody bitch, plan accordingly and you will sail up i70 like you own it.

[SchralpTheGnar]

Leaving before 6 am is the way to go. It's funny to hear everybody bitch, plan accordingly and you will sail up i70 like you own it.

In 1998 it was 7:30, in 2008 it was 7am, in 2016 it's 6am, I attached a quick plot estimating future times for future reference. Maybe we could auto post a Labor day leave time post a month before start of labor day.

[Trotter]

Leaving before 6 am is the way to go. It's funny to hear everybody bitch, plan accordingly and you will sail up i70 like you own it.

In 1998 it was 7:30, in 2008 it was 7am, in 2016 it's 6am, I attached a quick plot estimating future times for future reference. Maybe we could auto post a Labor day leave time post a month before start of labor day.

In 1998 Denver population was 541,000

In 2008 it was 593,000

In 2015 it was 683,000

Who knew that adding 140,000 people in the city of denver alone, not counting all the suburbs, without increasing capacity on the highways going into the mountains, would lead to gridlock?

[J-RockandRockpile]

Leaving before 6 am is the way to go. It's funny to hear everybody bitch, plan accordingly and you will sail up i70 like you own it.

In 1998 it was 7:30, in 2008 it was 7am, in 2016 it's 6am, I attached a quick plot estimating future times for future reference. Maybe we could auto post a Labor day leave time post a month before start of labor day.

In 1998 Denver population was 541,000

In 2008 it was 593,000

In 2015 it was 683,000

Who knew that adding 140,000 people in the city of denver alone, not counting all the suburbs, without increasing capacity on the highways going into the mountains, would lead to gridlock?

Wait, What?????

[lordhelmut]

So based on Schralp's chart, by 2070, you'll need to leave at midnight to avoid traffic. Pretty soon you'll leave Denver on a friday afternoon, arrive at trailhead too late for any sleep and just start hiking after a mind numbing commute.

[SchralpTheGnar]

Plains hiking is gonna be the next big thing.

[peter303]

So based on Schralp's chart, by 2070, you'll need to leave at midnight to avoid traffic. Pretty soon you'll leave Denver on a friday afternoon, arrive at trailhead too late for any sleep and just start hiking after a mind numbing commute.

Or start driving on July 5th to make your Labor Day trip.

[12ersRule]

Just make sure your relatives who hate anything outdoorsy visit you over Labor Day weekend. Then you won't have to worry about it.

[Jon Frohlich]

Just make sure your relatives who hate anything outdoorsy visit you over Labor Day weekend. Then you won't have to worry about it.

Yeah, I'm going to visit family in Nebraska. I'm not sure if I'd rather be sitting in traffic. At least no one really wants to drive to Nebraska though....

[larkinrx2]

The infrastructure is what is the major problem. It's light years behind and not keeping up with the population. And only 1 viable route to most mountain activities. The 4 years of construction to widen like 10 miles of EB road for a toll lane has made a tiny dent in the horrific I70 problem.

i love the removal of any safety shoulder to accomplish this task, still waiting for the right accident to turn this into a cluster f**k s**t show with the tow trucks having to drive the wrong way up the road to start the removal process

[MikeK]

While we're talking about Denver's populatuon explosion, IIRC, the metro area population essentially doubled betweeen 1980 and 2000 (I moved here as a kid, in 1972). Counting Boulder as a suburb, which it now is, albeit the weird one, the Denver-Boulder metroplex went from 1.5 million in 1980 to 3.1 million by 2006 -- and 100,000 people a year are moving to Colorado per year now. Of course, I have to thank a recently immigrated, kind soul who gave me a lift up the road this past Monday, when I sumitted Torreys. (You rock, Dave!)

In 1987, the first time I had a crack at a 14er, there were TWO people above timberline on the trail up Mt. Princeton (on a Wednesday, admittedly) and I was one of them. Those days are long gone.

I-70 between Denver and the Ike is now what I-25 was during rush hour was 20 years ago. Plan accordingly -- leave super early and return super late.

[shizupple]

Plains hiking is gonna be the next big thing.

Start the revolution Schralp!