Two collisions on Wednesday killed one person on U.S. Highway 160 between Cortez and Durango and delayed traffic until at least 8 p.m.
The first crash happened around 2:40 p.m. near the Durango West II subdivision. It involved an 18-wheel semitrailer and a Toyota Corolla and closed the highway for five hours, according to The Durango Herald.
One person died at the scene, and another was airlifted to a hospital in critical condition.
The highway was closed at 3:05 p.m. and didn’t reopen until 8 p.m. Traffic was detoured to Hesperus via County Road 141 and Colorado Highway 140.
A couple of hours later, a dump truck, Toyota RAV4 and Ford F-150 pickup truck collided on the eastern edge of Cortez near the Montezuma County Fairgrounds around 5:09 p.m.
No serious injuries were reported, but one person was taken to the hospital, said Colorado State Patrol Trooper Sherri Mendez.
Fuel and oil leaked from the dump truck, which prolonged the cleanup process and limited travel to a single alternating lane of traffic.
The Cortez Fire Protection District poured a powder oil absorbent on the road and shoveled it off so the road wasn’t slick when it reopened.
Once the oil was cleaned, deputies directed traffic, alternating which lanes could go. Both lanes did not reopen until the vehicles were removed from the scene.
After that second crash, the highway wasn’t completely reopened until 8:29 p.m, Mendez said.
A third crash was near milepost 107.
It was called in at 7:18 p.m. and involved one vehicle and a deer, but no person was injured, Mendez said.
