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Vehicles near mile-marker 311 on I-80 are backed up after several crashes closed the highway’s westbound lane Thursday morning (Photo: WYDOT)

UPDATE: As of approximately 1:00 Thursday afternoon, all westbound lanes of I-80 are listed as being open.  Wyoroad.info does note that there are reduced speed limits throughout the I-80 corridor.

Several slide-offs as well as collisions have closed a large portion of I-80 between Elk Mountain and Laramie, this according to an official WYDOT spokesperson.

Dave Kingham, public relations for Wyoming Department of Transportation in Cheyenne, says that several crashes are to blame for a large section of westbound I-80 being closed.  Kingham said that an exact number of crashes is difficult to pin down at this time, but that at approximately 10:40 this morning, there were four collisions and one slide off that were yet to be cleared from the highway.

A slide-off, says Kingham, is where a vehicle leaves the roadway.

Kingham went on to say that with the numerous crashes, two resulted in Ambulance calls.  The details on those calls and the conditions of the people involved are not known.

WYDOT Webcams show that the road closures have led to a significant back-up in traffic.

Kingham does remind travelers to be vigilant where the weather is concerned.  He asks drivers to pay attention to the variable speed limits on I-80 and to make sure you’re not going too fast for conditions.  With that you may have to allow yourself extra time to get to your destination.  At the time of this writing, some parts of I-80 had variable speed limits as low as 35 miles per hour.

Wyoming road conditions can be found at the website wyoroad.info or by dialing 5-11 from any phone within the state.

There is currently no ETA as to when the highway will reopen, Kingham says it depends how long it takes to get the roadway cleared.

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