A 19-vehicle accident on U.S. 491 south of Pleasant View shut down the highway from County Road Z to Dove Creek on Wednesday night, creating traffic jams and additional crashes on the detour route, County Road 18. The highway reopened Thursday at 8:30 a.m. Road conditions were still very icy and snowpacked, with more storms forecast for Friday and Saturday.
Icy, snowy roads and blizzard conditions about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday contributed to the crashes, which involved at least seven semi-trailers trucks and 12 passenger vehicles along a one-mile stretch of the highway. Three people were transported to area hospitals with minor injuries. A Colorado State Patrol car was also hit, but the officer was not injured.
Cortez Police Department dispatchers discouraged drivers from traveling U.S. 491 north of Cortez on Wednesday afternoon. About 6:45 p.m., northbound drivers were being allowed on U.S. 491 up to County Road AA, but travel between roads AA and DD was blocked off. Southbound drivers were being stopped at Dove Creek. Drivers were barred from parking on the side of the highway to wait out the closure and were being directed onto county roads while the accident was being cleared.
Montezuma County road crews plowed County Road 18 so it could be used as a detour around the closed section of U.S. 491, and cars followed behind them until about 8 p.m., when travel was suspended because of additional crashes on the detour route. A Dolores County sheriff’s deputy who was assisting near the scene of the pileup was redeployed to Dolores County as driving conditions worsened there.
About 9:45 p.m. Wednesday, a line of 15 to 20 southbound vehicles was cleared to move again about 9:45 p.m. on County Roads DD and 18, to be followed by northbound traffic. About 20 southbound vehicles waited in line. U.S. Highway 491 between County Roads AA and DD remained closed.
According to Cortez police, the crash was on U.S. 491 at mile marker 45, between County Roads AA and BB. Multiple fire and rescue services, including those from Pleasant View and Lewis-Arriola, responded.
During the afternoon storm, visibility was limited to about 20 feet, according to reports, and vehicles were sliding off the highway on the ice-covered highway.
“It’s multiple, multiple-vehicle accidents,” said Trooper Josh Lewis with the Colorado State Patrol about the closing of U.S. 491. “I haven’t heard about any injuries yet, but it’s a matter of getting everyone out and moving, and given the conditions, it’s going slowly.”
In the region
The afternoon storm also extended along U.S. Highway 160 to Durango.
Eastbound U.S. 160 at Farmington Hill was reopened before 7:30 p.m. Traffic was stopped before the Bridge to Nowhere backed up nearly to the Three Springs intersection.
North of Durango, the Colorado Department of Transportation ran out of sand for Highway 550, according to scanner reports. About 6:40 p.m., law enforcement reported that numerous cars ran off the road near the intersection of U.S. 550 and County Road 203, at the north end of Durango. The roadway was described as “a skating rink.”
Also, the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office said no one was injured when a small jet crashed into a snowplow Wednesday afternoon at the Telluride Regional Airport.
The plane, carrying five passengers and two crew members, was arriving from El Paso, Texas, about 2 p.m. when the crash occurred.
The Sheriff’s Office said on its Facebook page that the pilot reportedly did not radio the airport base before landing.