Sign warns: no plowing ahead

LARIMER COUNTY - A new sign along the side of Colorado Highway 14 in Poudre Canyon has gotten the attention of some drivers in Northern Colorado, especially now that the snow season is here.

The sign, which sits on the side of the road between Fort Collins and Walden on the way up to Cameron Pass simply says that the section of the road won't be plowed from 7 p.m. until 5 a.m. That means for 10 hours the state highway, which connects Fort Collins to Steamboat Springs won't be maintained.

The Colorado Department of Transportation confirms its workers did recently put up that sign on CO 14, as well as a few other state roads serving a daily average of less than 1,000 vehicles. While the signs are new, CDOT spokeswoman Stacey Stegman says the policy has been around for a while.

"We need to focus our limited resources on the highways that receive the most travel at the most heavily traveled times," Stegman explained.

In a plan finalized last December, the department decided to limit plowing of its least traveled roads to only 14 hours, unless weather conditions threaten to close the road.

9NEWS asked CDOT whether the limited plowing was a result of the state's budget issues.

"Budgetary issues were certainly considered but the larger issue was that it wasn't that different from how we were currently operating," Stegman said.

She says she knows of no cities, counties or states that provide 24-hour coverage of their roads. For instance, many metro Denver cities devote their plowing resources to main thoroughfares first and may plow side streets hours after the storm passes.

Stegman also says CDOT has a long list of exceptions, in which a community can request a road be plowed, including for school bus routes and special events.

No metro area roads are affected by the rule and CDOT says they will be reevaluating the placement of the new signs, to insure that they don't needlessly worry travelers.

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