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New Mexico's US 550 Continues To Be Deadly Major Highway

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Government traffic data shows that highway U.S. 550 in northwestern New Mexico could be the state's deadliest major highway.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports U.S. 550 continued to have a high fatality rate after the state finished widening the highway to four lanes in 2001. The New Mexico portion of U.S. 550 starts at Bernalillo, located north of Albuquerque, and runs through Cedar Hill before reaching Colorado. The highway does not have cable barriers or median barriers.

According to the report, several fatalities on U.S. 550 were caused by vehicles veering into oncoming traffic.

The state Department of Transportation says there was a slight decrease in the number of fatal crashes in 2015 and 2016. They did not say where the decrease was due to safety improvements.