A rescue operation is underway for the driver trapped in a passenger vehicle that went off the road surface of Interstate 70 near the Continental Divide and came to rest perhaps hundreds of feet below.
Colorado State Patrol Master Trooper Gary Cutler confirmed the vehicle was eastbound and went off the side of the highway.
Radio traffic from Summit County first responders suggested the car landed on a road below the highway. But those first responders also described that road as impassable for emergency vehicles and asked for snowmobiles to assist in the rescue of the driver.
A spokesperson for the Summit County Search And Rescue Group, Anna DeBattiste, confirmed that her agency was involved in the response to the accident scene.
There are no updates on the driver’s condition.
Colorado Department of Transportation
The incident was first reported about 7 p.m. It happened near mile marker 210, west of the Eisenhower-Johnson Tunnel.
According to further radio traffic, snowplow drivers from the Colorado Department of Transportation were in the area at the time of the accident and stopped along I-70 above the accident scene.
However, CSP’s Cutler noted it was too early to know if the vehicle slid off the highway due to slick road conditions.
On the radio, first responders were also using “The Box,” an access point to the scene from a frontage road that goes under I-70 in the area. This access was replaced in October 2022 to allow for larger emergency vehicles.
Unconfirmed reports state the car may have traveled 1,000 feet down the hillside.
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