Motorists should expect delays Monday morning on U.S. Highway 550 near Red Mountain Pass as crews attempt to remove a vehicle that went several hundred feet down an embankment Sunday.
Lisa Schwantes, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation, said crews were unable to recover the crashed vehicle Sunday.
Motorists should expect delays Monday morning, she said, but the exact time of the operation is unknown. The National Weather Service is predicting anywhere from 2 to 4 inches of snow on the mountain pass between 7 a.m. and noon Monday.
Schwantes said the highway closed around 11 a.m. Sunday and was reopened around 12:45 p.m.
Colorado State Patrol Capt. Adrian Driscoll said a White Mazda was traveling southbound when the driver lost control a few miles south of Ouray and went 370 feet down an embankment.
“It’s pretty steep there,” he said.
Driscoll said the driver, the only occupant, was able to self-extricate. The driver was identified as 39-year-old Matthew Pratt of Ridgway.
Pratt was airlifted to St. Mary’s Medical Center in Grand Junction with serious bodily injury, Driscoll said. Attempts to reach representatives with the hospital were unsuccessful Sunday.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
