Fresh powder, more Aspen visitors

Fresh snowfall has been drawing heavier-than-usual traffic to Aspen, both on the ground and in the air. 

Aspen-Pitkin County Airport Director Dan Bartholomew noted a direct correlation between fresh snow and increased air travel, explaining that this trend extended beyond the busy Presidents’ Day weekend.

“This year, we’re noticing that not only was Presidents’ Day weekend busy, but we are expecting a number of increased operations this weekend as well,” Bartholomew said. “We assume that is based on the fact that we received a fair amount of snow.”

By Wednesday, places like Highlands and Snowmass had already reached between 30-40 inches of snowfall.

With more visitors and longer stays, the airport is planning improvements to accommodate increased demand. Bartholomew said a new parking management system, set to launch in March or April, is expected to increase available parking by 10% to 15%.

“We have between 500 to 520 parking spots currently at the airport,” he said. “By looking at the configuration of the existing lot, [the management company] thinks they can extrapolate an additional 10% to 15% additional lots — 40 to 50 additional spaces.”

He explained that this would be achieved by shifting perpendicular parking spots to angled ones and reconfiguring the lot’s entrances and exits.

On the roads, the increased traffic has been evident. Pitkin County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy of Operations Parker Lathrop confirmed the uptick, citing data from the county’s license plate reader system, which, while not designed for traffic counts, provides useful estimates.

“The Elected Officials Transportation Committee (EOTC) put traffic counters up recently, but they are still working on getting those finalized,” Lathrop said. “Once they have that, we will have more accurate vehicle counts.”

Over Presidents Day weekend, Friday’s traffic surged, with 16,590 vehicles traveling upvalley and 13,790 heading downvalley. Lathrop noted that roughly 3,000 cars per day use McLain Flats as an alternate route, aligning with these figures.

“On Thursday, the day before last Friday, we saw 9,300 eastbound [upvalley], and we saw the same number going back down, which is unusual (citing the McLain Flats statistic),” Lathrop said. “Wednesday, 8,300 eastbound and 8,200 westbound. Friday, the snowy day last week, the holiday aside, definitely contributed to more traffic.”

Much of that congestion stems from a mix of local skiers, visitors, and workers, many of whom drive rather than take public transportation.

“Snow days definitely contribute to more traffic because you have the skiers going to the resorts, and many do not ride the buses — maybe because they have all of their equipment or whatever it is,” Lathrop said. “This is my opinion, but if you look at Pitkin County Alerts, the parking lots at Snowmass and Aspen Highlands have been filling up much earlier than last year, and in Snowmass, there is a fair amount of parking available.”

This year, however, patterns have shifted.

“Last year, the West Buttermilk parking lot would fill up very fast, but this year, it appears to be the last to be full,” Lathrop said.

Beyond volume alone, the fresh snow has also contributed to incidents that snarl traffic.

“With the snowfall, it definitely creates some traffic, and all it takes is one bad driver to mess everything up,” Lathrop said. “Last week, I spent a fair amount of time on Brush Creek, and there was a cement truck that slid off the road. It took us two hours to be able to have a break in traffic to have him pulled out of the ditch.”

Traffic concerns are also driving renewed discussions about Aspen’s Entrance to Aspen, with City Council pushing for a new Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The previous EIS largely focused on shifting drivers to public transportation, but current council members and city council and mayoral candidates argue that improving overall traffic flow — both into Aspen and further downvalley — should now take priority.

Aspen’s congestion is not an isolated issue. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) reports that traffic has surged across the state’s mountain corridors, with Interstate 70 travelers facing significant delays over Presidents’ Day weekend and bracing for more this weekend. Ongoing plowing operations, avalanche mitigation work, and clear, sunny skies are expected to bring another wave of congestion.

Saturday will see a westbound surge in the morning, followed by substantial delays in the afternoon and evening as skiers and weekend travelers return east to Denver.

Last year, the weekend after Presidents’ Day saw traffic metering at the tunnel for five hours, lasting until 10 p.m. on Saturday as eastbound vehicles funneled through at a rate of 2,900 per hour. 

With similar conditions expected, CDOT anticipates up to 3,000 vehicles per hour passing through the tunnel on Sunday afternoon, likely requiring west-side metering once again.