Independence Pass closed for the season

LAKE COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has announced the closure of Independence Pass for the season.

Independence Pass is a high-elevation pass on Colorado State Highway 82 between Twin Lakes and Aspen. It sits on the border of Lake County and Pitkin County, in the Sawatch Range.

The closure is necessary to keep maintenance equipment operators and the traveling public safe during the winter season. Plowing steep switchbacks on CO 82 on either side of the pass is not safe during winter months and sections of the roadway are exposed to significant avalanche hazards, according to CDOT.

CDOT said the roadway closed on Sunday, Oct. 23 due to a winter storm, and the closure extended into the winter seasonal closure that began today, Friday, Nov. 4.

CDOT will reopen the pass some time in the Spring of 2023.

Find more information on the closure here: https://www.codot.gov/news/2022/november/independence-pass-closure-2022