Increased commercial trucking sees three crashes in a week

Summer is expected to bring an increase in traffic to the region’s highways as tourists and part-time resi­dents flock to the mountains to escape the heat and take in the scenic beauty. However, it is not just individuals who fill the local highways, but also commercial semi-trucks.

Over the past decade, the commercial truck traffic through the Wet Mountain Valley on Highways 69 and 96 has continued to increase for several reasons. First and foremost, it is worth noting that GPS navigation systems have increasingly recognized Highway 69 as a shortcut to the Front Range or the mountains. Taking Highway 69 is faster than continuing to Highway 50 or Interstate I-25, depending on the final destination of the truck driv­ers. The second reason is that traffic is generally lighter, and third, there are no truck weigh stations.

The roads may cut hours off a trip, but they are also narrower and more chal­lenging to drive large trucks through compared to other routes. The difficulty of driving these shortcuts was laid bare last week when three semi-trucks completely closed three highways after crashing in one week.

The first crash took place June 23 at 10:20 a.m. on Highway 96 near Green­wood at the entrance of Hardscrabble Canyon when a semi-truck hauling gravel crashed, dumping gravel over the highway, causing a four hour delay. No inju­ries were reported, but a snowplow from CDOT was needed to clear the highway.

The second crash occurred on June 30 at 8:20 p.m. and involved a refrig­erated semi-truck that tipped over on Highway 69, approx­imately 10 miles south of Westcliffe. It took several hours for a wrecker to clear the highway, but alternating one-way traffic was able to keep the highway open. The truck was hauling a large quantity of hot dogs, which were distributed to local organizations.

Less than 24 hours later, a third crash on July 1 at 10:30 a.m. blocked High­way 69 10 miles north of Westcliffe for seven more hours. This crash was the most serious of the three, as the truck was carrying haz­ardous materials from the Climax Mine near Leadville and heading south.

All these crashes occurred in good weather with clear roads; speed and driver distractions seem to be the main causes. The highways in those loca­tions are not forgiving as they are narrow and wind­ing with many unexpected corners. What can be said is that emergency respond­ers worked quickly and dil­igently to secure the crash sites and reopen the high­ways safely.

– Jordan Hedberg