Collisions draw calls for divided Highway 65

August has been a deadly month for the stretch of Highway 65 north of Lincoln to the Placer County line.Two more people were killed Thursday, this after three died in a collision on Aug. 1. Both fatal accidents occurred less than a mile from each other."The only way to make that road safe is a divided, four-lane road," said Lincoln Mayor Tom Cosgrove, who is spearheading efforts to build a Highway 65 bypass. Long-range plans call for Highway 65 to be four lanes of traffic all the way into Marysville, he said. Until the bypass is built, motorists need to be cautious while driving along the existing two-lane highway.On Thursday, two big rigs collided head-on between the two Nader Roads that form a horseshoe on the east side of Highway 65, between Lincoln and Sheridan. Both drivers were killed.Those two fatalities bring to seven the total number of people who have died on Highway 65 between Lincoln and the county line since Jan. 1, said Mike Turner of the California Highway Patrolman. There have been four fatality collisions since the first of the year.That figure is more than all of the people who have died on Interstate 80 from Riverside Drive in Roseville to Colfax. Turner noted there have been three fatal collisions on I-80, killing three people, since Jan. 1.The seven people killed on Highway 65 north of Lincoln this year also is the most number of fatalities in the last three years. Turner said there was one fatal collision with three persons killed in 2002, three fatal accidents with three persons killed in 2003, and no fatal collisions in 2004."Any time you have a two-lane road, you always have the possibility of a head-on collision," Turner said. Unsafe passing of vehicles and unsafe speed are just two possible reasons for crashes on two-lane roads.In Thursday's collision, a logging truck driven by Gregory Zimmerman, 55, of Corning, was heading south on Highway 65 at about 10:30 a.m. when it collided with an empty flatbed truck, driven by John David Herzog, 43, of Grants Pass, Ore.Herzog was traveling about 60 miles an hour, the CHP report of the incident stated, while Zimmerman was traveling at approximately 55 miles an hour. As Herzog was approaching a gentle curve to the left, he allowed his vehicle to drift to the left into the southbound lane, the CHP report said.Zimmerman came around the gentle curve and saw Herzog's big rig approaching him. Zimmerman braked and swerved to the right but was unable to avoid the collision. The two trucks hit head-on in the southbound lane, noted CHP Sgt. Ed Bertola. A huge fireball erupted, sending flames shooting into the air and touching off a small fire in dry grass on the west shoulder of the road between the highway and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks that run parallel to the road.Heavy black smoke also billowed in the air and could be seen from a couple of miles away.Firefighters from several agencies extinguished the flames that burned the grass next to the railroad tracks. The fire was put out within 15 minutes, Bertola said. Contrary to some reports, train service was not interrupted, Bertola said, adding while he was on the scene, at least one train passed by real slow.Zimmerman's truck came to rest in a gully area west of the road. The load of logs came loose and ended up in the gully as well. Herzog's truck remained in the southbound lane.Both drivers were ejected from their vehicles and sustained fatal injuries. Bertola said it has not been determined yet if both were wearing seat belts. Traffic on Highway 65, meanwhile, was diverted for more than seven hours as crews cleaned up the crash scene. Northbound traffic was diverted onto the horseshoe Nader Road, while southbound traffic was diverted at Sheridan onto Rioso and Gladding roads, before connecting back to Highway 65 via Wise Road.It wasn't until about 6:30 p.m. that the road was re-opened. Bertola said the biggest obstacle were the logs, noting clean-up crews underestimated how long it would take to remove the logs.While Cosgrove said a four-lane, divided highway is the only way to make the road safe, the proposed bypass is still a ways off. The Lincoln mayor said the target date for the completion of the bypass, which will skirt Lincoln to the west, is still planned for 2009 or 2010.The only problem is the bypass will not be a four-lane highway all the way around Lincoln when it first opens.Because of financial constraints, Cosgrove said the bypass will only be a four-lane divided road from just south of Lincoln to Nelson Road, which is south of Nicolaus Road. It will be a two-lane road the rest of the way into Sheridan.Caltrans is coordinating the four-lane highway from Sheridan past Wheatland and into Marysville, Cosgrove said. No guesses, estimates, or crystal balls can predict when the entire stretch of roadway will become four lanes, Cosgrove said.One reason is financing. The other reason is that there are other projects up and down the state, and in Placer County that need attention, may be more so than the Lincoln bypass, Cosgrove said.On a positive note, Cosgrove said, as land is being acquired for the bypass, enough rights-of-way are being acquired for the four-lane, divided highway, and not just the two-lane roadway.The CHP is still investigating Thursday's collision, Bertola said. Anyone who witnessed the accident is encouraged to call Bertola at (916) 663-3344.Richard Myers can be reached at richardm@goldcountrymedia.com.