On Thursday, Jan. 30, a two-vehicle collision in Cortez on U.S. Highway 491 affected traffic for almost two hours, and put both drivers in the hospital.
A 40 year-old-man from Boise, Idaho, who was driving a rented moving truck, reportedly pulled out of the Maverik gas station near milepost 27 around 4:10 p.m. and crossed two lanes of traffic, said Colorado State Patrol Trooper Gabriel Moltrer.
The maneuver caused the 23 year-old driver of a Dodge Dakota pickup, the other vehicle involved in the crash, to swerve and ultimately collide with the front left side of the rental, Moltrer said.
The impact caused both cars to rotate and end up on the shoulder of the northbound lane of the highway. Both drivers sustained serious injuries and were taken to the hospital.
The road was closed at 4:40 p.m., with a detour at Road 25 and another at Road L. Southbound lanes opened around 5:33 p.m., and at 6:10 p.m. the highway was open.
A Cortez Safe Streets flyer named U.S. Highway 491 a “top crash corridor” in town, along with U.S. Highway 160 which is Main Street.
Between 2018 and 2022, 370 of the 536 crashes that happened in Cortez happened on those two roads. This spring, the Cortez City Council will approve an action plan to improve the safety of these roads.
