ASPEN, Colo. -- Colorado officials are exploring new ways to keep large vehicles off the narrow, high-altitude Independence Pass after hefty fines failed to stop the problem.
TheAspen Times reports that sheriff's deputies had to turn around more than 20 semi-trucks one day in July because vehicles longer than 35 feet can't traverse the narrow, winding mountain pass near Aspen.
The Colorado Department of Transportation and Pitkin County commissioners are considering spending half a million dollars to tackle the issue.
CDOT traffic engineer Zane Znamenacek says the solution involves technology that would identify large vehicles and activate a sign telling them to turn around. He says the county would also pay to build a roundabout to route truck drivers back toward Aspen.
