UPDATED: One person dead following latest Ogden Canyon crash
In the wake of multiple fatal crashes in Ogden Canyon in recent months, another person died Wednesday as a result of a collision on state Route 39.
According to the Utah Highway Patrol, the latest crash occurred near milepost 10 at about 1:50 p.m. Wednesday. The driver — identified as Quincie Holman, 20, of Salt Lake City — had been traveling east in a Hyundai Elantra, per the UHP statement, and was trying to pass another vehicle at the time of the crash.
“The driver of the Elantra attempted to pass a Dodge Ram pickup in a no-passing zone,” the statement read. “While passing the Ram, the driver of the Elantra attempted to go back into the eastbound travel lane and sideswiped the pickup. The Elantra then struck a Mazda 3 traveling westbound, in a head-on style collision.”
It was noted that the incident occurred on a stretch of S.R. 39 that has “one lane for eastbound traffic and one lane for westbound traffic.”
Per UHP, the driver of the Elantra was transported to a local hospital before dying from their injuries. According to Gephardt Daily, the other eastbound driver who was struck suffered “relatively minor injuries.”
The fatal collision came one day before a scheduled Utah Department of Transportation open house at the Ogden Valley branch of the Weber County Library to discuss potential safety measures that could be implemented on the canyon section of S.R. 39.
Some of the safety improvements being considered by UDOT include decreasing the speed limit through the canyon, restricting certain vehicles based on length and improving sight distances on the highway. The open house is scheduled for 4-6 p.m. Thursday.
Earlier this month, UDOT made improvements on the canyon road between mileposts 9 and 13.9, replacing outdated roadside barriers and installing a centerline rumble strip. Crews are slated to return next spring to apply a chip seal on the westbound lanes from milepost 9 to 9.9, according to the UHP project website.
There were two crashes with fatalities in the canyon over a 10-day span in early to mid-July, one of which resulted in the deaths of Lifetime Products CEO Richard Hendrickson and his 16-year-old daughter, Sally.
Shortly thereafter, an online petition calling for the limitation of certain vehicle types on S.R. 39 was launched, garnering more than 5,000 signatures.