Last month, Colorado State Patrol announced it would be adding a layer of multi-agency enforcement operations to the state’s chain law. Results from the operation’s first week show some commercial vehicles are still ill-equipped to safely traverse the state’s icy roads.

The creation of weekly enforcement operations comes as municipalities along Interstate 70 — including the town of Vail and Clear Creek County — have asked Colorado Gov. Jared Polis for help with the issue of slowed travel and road closures brought on by drivers disobeying the state’s chain law.

Vail in particular has asked for harsher penalties for truckers not adhering to the chain law, as last year Colorado State troopers and port of entry officers cited 120 commercial vehicle drivers for violations that resulted in road closures.

“We’ve been doing a lot of other avenues and techniques to enforce chain law and passenger traction law,” Colorado State Patrol Sergeant Patrick Rice told the Summit Daily. “We’re always looking for ways to improve, things we can do better, and this is just another opportunity for us to do something ahead of the storm in order to ensure better compliance during the storm.”

The increased enforcement is carried out by Colorado State Troopers and partnering local agencies from Glenwood Springs to Golden, who perform chain carry checks along the Interstate 70 mountain corridor and enforce speed violations.

The Colorado State Patrol held its first weekly enforcement operation on Feb. 27. Between the Colorado State Patrol, Avon Police Department and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office — the only agencies to provide citation information in time for the public reporting deadline — officers made contact with 257 vehicles, 174 of which were commercial vehicles traveling on the interstate.

The stops resulted in 48 speeding citations out of 59 total citations, with five commercial vehicles being cited for failing to comply with Colorado’s chain laws.

“I would say a total of 257 contacts over the period of the operation is a pretty good number, and I would expect that we’ll see a similar number depending on traffic volume from one day to the next and weather conditions,” Rice said.

Compliance with traction laws requires that passenger vehicle wheels have a 3/16-inch tread depth and be rated either “all-weather” or “mud and snow.” Large commercial vehicles must carry chains when traveling on I-70 and other major roadways ​​between Sept. 1 and May 31 and must use them when conditions require.

The enforcement operations began roughly six months into Colorado’s chain law season. With only 13 weeks remaining for enforcement operations, Rice said the department hopes to see improvement over time.

“Significant (impact) is the key. We’re never going to see 100% compliance just like with any law that we enforce anywhere,” he said. “Along with everything else that we do, this is just one more thing that’s going to help bring that significant change hopefully a little faster.”

Rice said one of the hardest groups for the Colorado State Patrol to reach about the state’s chain law is rental vehicle drivers. This sometimes leads to visitors unknowingly driving vehicles that are ill-equipped for snow-covered mountainous roads.

“People from out of state that fly into Denver, fly into Grand Junction, they rent a vehicle and go up to the mountains and they don’t know the laws regarding their passenger traction,” he said. “They just assume that they’re probably in a vehicle made for the area, but that rental vehicle could have been driven there from San Diego last week.”

The next Colorado State Patrol multi-agency Enforcement Operation will be held on Wednesday, March 5. Weekly enforcement events will rotate days, and checks will be conducted when weather is not inclement to ensure commercial and private drivers are prepared.