Adams drivers can meet traction law on state highways

Colorado can put a passenger-vehicle traction or chain law into effect on any state highway when winter weather or road conditions call for it. That includes flat Front Range highways, not just mountain passes.

When one is in force, the word comes through highway signs, the COtrip site, and traffic or roadway condition alerts. Under CDOT’s current traction-law rules, an all-wheel-drive or four-wheel-drive vehicle must have qualifying mud-and-snow, winter, or manufacturer-rated all-weather tires with at least 3/16-inch tread. Chains or an approved alternative traction device are another way to comply. A passenger-vehicle chain law is stricter: every vehicle must use chains or an approved alternative device.

For Adams County, this lands on ordinary trips: the state routes people take to commute, reach the airport area, cross the north metro, or start a drive toward the high country. The law tracks the highway and the weather of the moment, not whether you have left the county. A flat, familiar road can fall under it the same morning a pass does.

Before a winter drive, check CDOT’s traction-law page and COtrip. Make sure the right tires or an approved traction device are already part of the plan, not a scramble at the on-ramp.