Local first responders got an early start to the holiday weekend Thursday, and not in a good way.
In addition to two fatalities, one on Molas Pass on U.S. Highway 550 and one east of Cortez on U.S. Highway 160, they responded to:
A tanker truck that jackknifed on Horseshoe Turn on Red Mountain Pass at mile post 77 on U.S. Highway 550, at about 1 p.m., Colorado State Trooper Josh Lewis said. The driver was not injured, he said.
A vehicle went down an embankment on Colorado Highway 151 about 1.5 miles south of Ignacio and rolled. No injuries were reported, Lewis said.
A man working on a car was injured when the car rolled over him.
“He was taken to the hospital,” La Plata County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Jeff Blevans said. “I’m not sure what caused it, but it was an accident.”
Lewis said the rest of the state’s first responders didn’t see so much activity.
“Your area is definitely an anomaly,” he said.
Nancy Shanks, communication manager for the Colorado Department of Transportation, said with the closure of Colorado Highway 3 for rock mitigation, an additional 8,700 drivers a day will join the already-busy U.S. Highway 550/160 corridor until the project ends in November.
“And of course, this weekend, we have all the motorcyclists and tourists on the roads,” she said. “People need to keep their speed down, pay attention, drive defensively. They need to drive with courtesy and caution.”
abutler@durangoherald.com
