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Denver sees jackknifed buses, 78 crashes during slick, snowy morning commute

Several people were injured in Aurora after an R Line train derailed during the early morning hours. One woman, according to Aurora police, was thrown from the train and suffered serious injuries.

DENVER — If you were out on the roads this morning, there's a good chance you had one heck of a rough drive. Some people were injured during their morning commute, although it is unclear how many were in total.

In Aurora, a Regional Transportation District R Line train derailed at the intersection of East Exposition Avenue and South Sable Boulevard. A woman was thrown from the train, according to the Aurora Police Department, and suffered serious injuries. She was rushed to a local hospital and is listed in "stable" condition. Several others from the train were also taken to a nearby hospital.

Several cities remain on "Accident Alert" post 1 p.m., including Aurora, Boulder, Centennial, Denver, Lone Tree, and Longmont as well as unincorporated Arapahoe and all of Douglas counties. Travel conditions remain poor around a significant portion of the metro area.

WATCH BELOW: Woman ejected from train after it derails in Aurora during early morning snowstorm

MORE | Woman thrown from train after it derails in Aurora during early morning snowstorm

An "Accident Alert" in Colorado means that unless the accident has injuries, is a hit-and-run, has an impaired driver, blocks streets, involves city property or personnel, involves someone without insurance or involves an undrivable vehicle - exchange insurance information and do an online report.

Broomfield County's Accident Alert was canceled as of 1:10 p.m. 

SUPER HELPFUL LINK | 9NEWS Traffic Center

According to the Denver Police Department, at least 78 cars have been involved in accidents from 5 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. on Monday - and that total is likely much higher now that the vast majority of those trapped on the roads have been freed. DPD asked motorists in a tweet to "drive like there's a cop on every corner" - which is great advice. Drive slow, drive carefully - and give yourself extra time and space.

Before you drive, always clear your car of snow - that includes all your windows. Use your wipers and your lights - always in weather like this! 

A roundup of various crashes throughout Colorado

A crash at South Sable and East Exposition in Aurora has sent one person to the hospital with serious injuries and shut down the intersection for several hours, according to the Aurora Police Department. The RTD R Line in that area is shut down between Florida Station and 13th Avenue Station, and service will be provided by bus shuttle, the transportation district said.

According to APD, the light rail train derailed at the intersection and a woman was thrown from the train.

RTD is reporting delays throughout the Front Range due to this weather on all services - if you use city transit, check the status of your train or bus line at this link.

WATCH BELOW: RTD buses jackknife in Denver during snowy commute

In addition to the train accident, nearly a dozen photos have come into the 9NEWS newsroom showing jackknifed buses around the downtown area just blocking entire streets. There's one in front of the Capitol on Broadway and another on Speer stuck around 13th Avenue. It's important for motorists to drive defensively and carefully around buses - they need room!

Wheat Ridge police called into 9NEWS to report a jackknifed tractor-trailer on I-70 West at Highway 58 around 8:30 a.m. Traffic was down to one lane and the public information officer said cars were stopped as far back as Wadsworth Boulevard for hours.

Also in Wheat Ridge - this time around 1:30 p.m. - PD reports a fuel spill on I-70 at Youngfield Street this time. West Metro Fire is there and cleaning it up - one westbound lane is closed.

INTERACTIVE RADAR | Check weather conditions

Colorado State Patrol is reporting poor conditions across several interstates and highways surrounding the metro and into the mountains.

Interstate 70 was closed at mile marker 205 (Silverthorne) headed east all the way to mile marker 215 due to a car fire in the Eisenhower Tunnel and multiple spinouts in the area. From about 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., no cars could get through the tunnel. By 11:15 a.m., I-70 East at Silverthorne was back open.

U.S. 36 near Boulder at McCaslin was shut down briefly just before 11 a.m. because of a need for snowplows to get onto the roads and clear them for drivers. Half an hour later, the road was reopened but traffic was still backed up. 

A hit-and-run was reported around 10 a.m. in Broomfield near Highway 128 and Wadsworth Boulevard after a woman struck another vehicle and then sped off, according to the Broomfield Police Department. 

The suspect originally fled from the scene and officers had to conduct a PIT maneuver to get her to stop. According to PD, she had some sort of medical episode and was taken to a hospital.

Few other injury crashes were reported outside of the Aurora/Broomfield crashes. 

What's going on with the snow and snow plows?

According to the National Weather Service, light to moderate snow will likely continue through the 11 a.m. hour - through rush hour, basically. The snow is expected over the southern Interstate 25 corridor (as Greeley is dry this morning). 

Several viewers have called, emailed or just generally let us know they felt that Denver's snow plows should have been out earlier - or viewers were just generally wondering where they were. According to the city's public works, plows were out as soon as the flakes began to fall.

WATCH BELOW: CDOT explains why Monday morning's commute sucked

To find out where the plows are now, head to this link.

This story will be updated with more information as traffic conditions either improve or deteriorate.

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