What are Staged re-open and a Staged Closure (or Phased open/closure)?
Staged or phased opens and closures are a concept that helps alleviate congestion in smaller communities when the highway is closed. This practice has been used for years in eastern Colorado and is now being implemented in our mountain areas. During a closure, when a town or community fills up with traffic waiting for the road to reopen, the closure is then pushed back to a pre-determined location farther upstream . This helps allow local traffic and emergency responders keep access around town. This concept is also applied to the reopening of the highway. Areas closest to the closure point are released first and allowed to clear before the outlying traffic is released. This helps to avoid secondary accidents and allows for smoother reopening of the highway. Because of this, traffic may be seen moving on the corridor or on cameras before the road is officially announced as open .
