Your Feb. 18 Pre-Trip: Rock slide closes I-70

Feb. 18, 2016

Here are five things worth knowing today.

Here are five things worth knowing today: 1. Interstate 70 in Colorado remains closed as rockfall crews continue to stabilize the slope and bring down debris from rock scaling operations, Colorado DOT reports. CDOT hopes to have the highway open tomorrow afternoon to single-lane alternating traffic, though it is still uncertain at this point. CDOT says that “safety is the number one priority” right now. The first rock slide occurred at 2:30 a.m. Monday directly west of the Hanging Lake Tunnel and eight miles east of Glenwood Springs. A second incident occurred that night at the same location. CDOT has more.2. According to The Hill, traffic fatalities increased by 8% in 2015, the National Safety Council reports. The NSC said 38,300 people were killed in car accidents in 2015 compared to 35,236 in 2014. According to the report, the group said the states with the largest increases in fatalities were Oregon, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina. The Hill has more. 3. Some lawmakers in Mississippi are looking to raise the state’s gas tax to help pay for road and bridge improvements, according to The Clarion-Ledger. The MDOT executive director told lawmakers that additional funding of $526 million a year is needed to bring infrastructure up to a satisfactory level over the next decade or so, according to the report.4. Delaware lawmakers are also seeking to raise the state’s gas tax to make “critical improvements” to roads and bridges, Delaware Online reports. Lawmakers seek to raise the tax by 10 cents per gallon. One state representative estimates that raising the gas tax 10 cents per gallon would generate more than $50 million in additional revenue a year.5. According to a report in Today’s Trucking, looming retirements will hit East Coast Trucking in Canada. A labor profile of the ports of Saint John and Halifax has found that 68% of the area’s truck drivers are over age 44, and 42% are 55 and older. According to the report, most drivers expect to leave the sector in the next 10 years. Today’s Trucking has more.

About the Author

Cristina Commendatore

Cristina Commendatore was previously the Editor-in-chief of FleetOwner magazine. She reported on the transportation industry since 2015, covering topics such as business operational challenges, driver and technician shortages, truck safety, and new vehicle technologies. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut.