Winter season kicks off for Colorado plow drivers

DENVER — Denver plow drivers were dispatched Tuesday night for the first time this season, after Mother Nature dropped a few inches of snow across the Mile High City.

The storm was likely just an appetizer, as plow drivers already are preparing for another round of snow Friday night.

“This was a great first storm for our crews to get back in their trucks and get familiar with their routes again,” said Nancy Kuhn, spokesperson for the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI). “So it was a good first storm for us in terms of getting back into the swing of things and welcoming winter.”

Kuhn said DOTI began dropping deicer overnight before the snow started falling.

“Once the cars started driving over it during the day, we’ve seen pretty good rebound on the main streets,” Kuhn said.

Residential plows weren’t deployed for this storm but could be used on side streets Friday or Saturday depending on how much snow falls.

“We’ll continue to look at the forecasts and study that and see what we need to do,” she said.

CDOT spokesperson Tamara Rollison said the first snowfall of the season caught some drivers off-guard, with multiple spinouts Sunday through Wednesday on Interstates 25 and 70.

“We had a rough go of it on Sunday on the I-70 mountain corridor,” Rollison said. “There were tractor trailers that were not chained up. There were passenger vehicles that were caught unaware, and they got caught in the snow. So, this is a reminder that winter is here, you need to be prepared for it, your car needs to be prepared for it, you need to be psychologically prepared for it, so plan ahead, and take it easy.”