Remote part of highway leads to deadly crashes

Road scars, deep and black, look like unhealed wounds across Colo. 14, seven months after Kenneth Cline's accident. It was March 28 when Cline's eastbound pickup crossed into the westbound lane of Colo. 14 and smashed into a semitrailer truck coming from the other direction.

Cline died instantly.

The black tire marks of the semi that hit him are still visible, reminders of a few seconds of violence on Colo. 14 just west of New Raymer.

Like many accidents on this highway, which stretches across the northern portion of Weld County, the damage and injuries were extensive.

Weld has fewer total accidents than many other counties, but the speed of the cars and trucks running on the open roads causes more severe crashes.

"Adams County has about 6,000 accidents every year, compared to our 2,500," said Colorado State Patrol Capt. Gary Myers. "But we have many more serious accidents, many more fatalities, because of the people driving faster in the county. Adams County's accidents are usually fender-benders."Colo. 14 rarely is patrolled because officers have more pressing problems on other highways and interstates in the county.

Myers agrees with Weld County sheriff's spokeswoman Margie Martinez, who said, "14 hasn't been one of our target areas, simply because the traffic volume is so much lower than other highways."

<b>Two forgotten deaths</b>

At the other end of Colo. 14 in Weld County, 50 miles to the west, two memorials stand beside the road, honoring men who have been mostly forgotten by the people who live along the highway.

Marked by a cross and wreath made of cloth flowers, the arrangements have faded during the years. They still stand straight, the wreath and the cross, but the artificial flowers are worn ragged by the wind and rain.

Two men died here, maybe two or three years ago, maybe longer, according to farmer Jeff Swenson, who lives nearby.

"They were migrant workers, I think from Mexico," Swenson said.

"It was a rainy night, and they lost control on the wet road and crossed into the path of a bigger car. It killed both of them."

Swenson said many people visited the markers at first, so many that their cars would crowd the road. But recently, no one has come. It's possible that family and friends went to work in other fields or returned to Mexico.

They are two of the six people who have died on Colo. 14 in the past four years. Twenty-three injury accidents occurred on the highway since 1997, and in 47 more accidents no one was injured.

"A lot of those accidents happened because someone pulled out from a stop sign, or ran a stop sign at one of the crossroads," Myers said. "And when cars and trucks are traveling as fast as they do on the highway, a lot of those accidents were serious."

Like the skid marks on Colo. 14, the memorials will remain, probably the best testimony of high-speed traffic on the little two lane highway.

<li>Editor's note: This is the seventh in a series of stories about the history of Colo. 14 and the sparsely-populated areas in northern Weld County.