—SW COLORADO ROAD UPDATE—
US 550 Red Mountain Pass to remain closed

All other southwest Colorado passes are currently open after winter maintenance work completed

A front end loader pushes snow that came down from a triggered slide on US 550 south of Silverton.

US 550 north of Durango 
US 550 Red Mountain Pass, between Silverton and Ouray, will remain closed through the night due to high avalanche risk of natural slides hitting the highway. Crews have been working on the pass today and are scheduled to continue their winter maintenance efforts first thing tomorrow morning. There is no estimated time for opening Red Mountain Pass.

Winter maintenance work was also performed on US 550 Coal Bank and Molas passes today. Crews worked from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. to open the highway south of Silverton. The team cleared a significant amount of snow and debris from several sections of the roadway along the entire US 550 mountain corridor.

A CDOT maintenance crew member reaches up to show the height of a 12 ft. slide. One of several that were triggered on the US 550 mountain corridor (Red Mountain, Molas and Coal Bank passes).

US 160 Wolf Creek Pass east of Pagosa Springs – OPEN 
US 160 Wolf Creek Pass was closed overnight due to adverse weather and high avalanche danger. While the pass was closed, crews performed early morning winter maintenance operations. The roadway was cleared of snow and debris and then reopened by 8:30 a.m. 

A CDOT equipment operator uses a snowblower to widen the highway on US 160 Wolf Creek Pass, east of Pagosa Springs.

CO 145 Lizard Head Pass south of Telluride – OPEN 
CDOT performed winter maintenance operations on CO 145 Lizard Head Pass today from 6:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Crews addressed several slide paths along the corridor from Rico to Ophir.

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Some mountain highways are still experiencing adverse weather and high avalanche danger. Travelers should be aware that additional maintenance work and safety closures may be implemented on many southwest Colorado highways over the next few days. Visit cotrip.org for the latest information on road closures and conditions.