Green River tunnel crash

[micropolitan guy]

Did I miss a thread on the tunnel crash in Green River, Wyo., on Monday? Three died when 26 semis and cars crashed in the Westbound tunnel on I-80 in Green River. What a horrible way to go.

Been through this tunnel numerous times, there's a slight right turn just before it but it's a straight shot through the tunnel, which is 1/4-mile long.

Of the 26 vehicles, 16 were semis. The amount of truck traffic on I-80 is staggering.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

I didn't even hear about it.

 

[MileHigh]

I saw it in passing. Been on that stretch of I-80 a few times.

 

[dixiehack]

In The Lost Continent, Bill Bryson talks about how the vastness of America swallows up news about disasters that would be the talk of a European country for days.

 

[Chef2]

I saw it in passing. Been on that stretch of I-80 a few times.

Compare it to the Eisenhower.

 

[MileHigh]

Compare it to the Eisenhower.

Ike/Johnson is more than 1.6 miles long. Green River is 1,200 feet. No hazmat trucks allowed through Ike/Johnson unless they can't go over Loveland Pass. If so, hazmat trucks are escorted through with no other traffic.

 

[Chef2]

Ike/Johnson is more than 1.6 miles long. Green River is 1,200 feet. No hazmat trucks allowed through Ike/Johnson unless they can't go over Loveland Pass. If so, hazmat trucks are escorted through with no other traffic.

See…..when we went out to Keystone last year, we inadvertently took Loveland Pass. I can promise you one thing. I would drive for 17 hours through every other county in Colorado backwards to get to Keystone as long as I avoided Loveland Pass.
Lord help me.
I still think about that.
Highway-6 inches of gravel-end of the world

 

[MileHigh]

See…..when we went out to Keystone last year, we inadvertently took Loveland Pass. I can promise you one thing. I would drive for 17 hours through every other county in Colorado backwards to get to Keystone as long as I avoided Loveland Pass.
Lord help me.
I still think about that.
Highway-6 inches of gravel-end of the world

Red Mountain Pass in the winter scoffs at Loveland Pass.

If it's snowing/icy, for sure need to stay on I-70 to Silverthorne then go up to Keystone. Great golf in the summer at Keystone.

 

[ChrisLong]

A friend lives in Buffalo and I think he is some sort of volunteer EMT. He posted on FB about being called to help out with this.

 

[Roscablo]

Ike/Johnson is more than 1.6 miles long. Green River is 1,200 feet. No hazmat trucks allowed through Ike/Johnson unless they can't go over Loveland Pass. If so, hazmat trucks are escorted through with no other traffic.

The reason there are so many trucks on I-80 is it is an easier trek than I-70. Especially flatter. The wind and weather isn't necessarily better.

 

[MileHigh]

The reason there are so many trucks on I-80 is it is an easier trek than I-70. Especially flatter. The wind and weather isn't necessarily better.

Oh, for sure. Not only do you have to navigate the big construction zone on Floyd Hill, you have the tunnels, Vail Pass and Glenwood Canyon on I-70. It's a gorgeous drive, but for effectiveness, I-80 is the way to go for trucks.

 

[kickoff-time]

Weather did not play a factor in this crash. Good friend of mine had his niece involved in the crash and she was airlifted to Salt Lake City. Doing OK though. He said it looked like a war zone. He has been in war so I trust him.

 

[micropolitan guy]

Weather did not play a factor in this crash. Good friend of mine had his niece involved in the crash and she was airlifted to Salt Lake City. Doing OK though. He said it looked like a war zone. He has been in war so I trust him.

Just anecdotal observations here, but it seems as if I-80 in Wyoming has been just awful this winter. Closed far more often than I remember.

We drive it to and from our cabin every summer, from the state line (Evanston) to Walcott Junction, just east of Rawlins. It's the middle of nowhere but a pretty drive, if you appreciate wide-open spaces. Always tons of truck traffic, unless you get lucky and are driving while some f them are pulled off and taking a break.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Was in Park City (actually Deer Valley, 2500 feet higher) for a wedding on Super Bowl weekend. Trip both up and down I-80 from Salt Lake City airport was a truck terror experience. Especially up, in a heavy snowstorm. We put in a 50 percent tip for our Uber driver. Passed on the right by a double propane truck. Whee!

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Bunch of videos on TikTok.

 

[maumann]

First thing I thought of when seeing this crash was the Caldecott Tunnel Fire in 1982. A gasoline tanker crashed into a stalled car inside the tunnel between Oakland and Contra Costa County, completely engulfing multiple vehicles and killing seven. The heat melted the tanker and beer truck to the ground, buckled steel plates and knocked thousands of tiles off the tunnel walls.

Thankfully that crash happened just after midnight when traffic was at a minimum. I can't imagine if that had happened at rush hour.

It took several months to repair and reopen the tunnel.

 

[Chef2]

Red Mountain Pass in the winter scoffs at Loveland Pass.

If it's snowing/icy, for sure need to stay on I-70 to Silverthorne then go up to Keystone. Great golf in the summer at Keystone.

We went to Keystone in the summer, and there was still snow on the sides at Keystone Pass. Yes, we were next to the moon in altitude but good grief.

 

[TigerVols]

Was in Park City (actually Deer Valley, 2500 feet higher) for a wedding on Super Bowl weekend. Trip both up and down I-80 from Salt Lake City airport was a truck terror experience. Especially up, in a heavy snowstorm. We put in a 50 percent tip for our Uber driver. Passed on the right by a double propane truck. Whee!

Stayed at the St Regis or the Brass Tag I hope.

 

[MileHigh]

We went to Keystone in the summer, and there was still snow on the sides at Keystone Pass. Yes, we were next to the moon in altitude but good grief.

Love Keystone. But are we talking June or September here? Again, go back for the golf. Or go over Red Mountain and hit up Dalton Ranch for a round. Or detour to Steamboat and go to Haymaker.

 

[DanOregon]

I mentioned when it happened that of course when you land a jetliner in the Hudson off of Manhattan right during the afternoon news budget meetings of the broadcast and cable news networks and the NY Times? with enough daylight to get great video? you get a movie starring Tom Hanks as you and directed by Clint Eastwood. Something like this? After the East Coast media has put a full lid on things and there isn't much local coverage? Its not right, but sadly expected given the growth of news deserts in the US.