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Two people were killed on U.S. 601 Sunday afternoon in the latest crash on a two-lane stretch of road in southern Union County known locally as the "Death Highway."
The 11-mile portion has been slated for safety improvements for years, but construction has been delayed twice. With Sunday's deaths, the toll has climbed to at least 26 fatalities during the past decade.
It was not immediately clear what caused this wreck. N.C. Highway Patrol troopers were still investigating the crash, which closed the highway for hours.
The problematic stretch runs south from U.S. 74 in Monroe to the S.C. line, up and down rural hills. Officials say the straight shot lulls drivers into cruising faster than the speed limit.
But side roads form blind entrances. And growth in the area has funneled more vehicles onto the highway. That means tractor-trailers loaded with goods and Charlotte-area folks headed toward S.C. beaches often share the narrow set of lanes.
Still, a $55 million N.C. Department of Transportation construction project to widen the road to four lanes and add a median and U-turn lanes won't begin for months.
So, just before 4:20 p.m. Sunday, two vehicles traveling along U.S. 601 near the S.C. line were driving along a two-lane road instead of what officials hope will be a safer, four-lane highway divided by a median.
A tractor-trailer and vehicle collided near Landsford Road in the southern edge of Union, according to the N.C. Highway Patrol.
Investigators were still on the scene Sunday evening, piecing together what happened.
State officials have talked about improving the road for years. The N.C. DOT even fast-tracked the project from a 2008 start date because of the safety concerns.
Usually, the road is designed first and then construction begins. But the state decided to merge the design and building phases, a process used to widen I-77 north of Charlotte, so that construction could begin in 2005.
But budget crunches delayed the project twice, said N.C. DOT Division Engineer Barry Moose. Now, he said, the N.C. DOT will likely award a bid next month. Construction could then begin this summer.
In the meantime, road crews added interim safety measures -- such as 2-foot gravel shoulders and rumble strips to alert drivers -- a couple of years ago. "It seemed to have helped," Moose said.
In 2005, no one died on the stretch. Then in August 2006, a 24-year-old Union County man died after his pickup hit a tractor-trailer. And on Sunday, two more died.
Yet, even once construction starts, Moose said, the road widening likely won't be finished for two more years
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