La Plata Coroner Identifies Driver Killed in Highway 550 Head-On Crash

The Ouray County Coroner identified Alixzander Thomsen, 34, as the driver killed in a head-on collision on U.S. Highway 550 south of Ridgway Monday evening, a crash that left two passengers seriously injured and shut down the highway for more than five hours.

Thomsen, an Ouray resident, was driving his Dodge Caravan northbound toward town when his vehicle crossed the centerline and struck a southbound Ford F-350 hauling a trailer near mile marker 103, close to Orvis Hot Springs. The collision occurred just after 5:30 p.m. Colorado State Patrol reported that the Caravan had no rear seat and none of its three occupants were wearing seatbelts. A 12-year-old girl was airlifted to a hospital; a 74-year-old woman was transported by ground ambulance. The Ford F-350's driver escaped injury, though the trailer detached and came to rest in a ditch.

The Colorado State Patrol Vehicular Crimes Unit is leading the investigation, and the cause of the crash has not been determined. The highway was closed in both directions for more than five hours while emergency crews worked the scene.

For Dolores County residents who travel the 550 corridor north to Montrose, Ridgway, or Ouray for work, groceries, or medical care, Monday's crash falls on a stretch that CDOT data has flagged repeatedly. The state recorded 344 crashes on U.S. 550 within Ouray County between 2021 and 2024. Since spring 2022, CDOT has completed over $40 million in safety improvements along the corridor, including a wildlife underpass, deer fencing, a new southbound passing lane near the Pa-Co-Chu-Puk campground at Ridgway State Park, and more than 22 miles of resurfaced roadway. As recently as December 2025, the state moved to lower the speed limit on a section of 550 north of Ridgway following a cluster of serious crashes near mile marker 105.

Mile marker 103, where Thomsen's Caravan crossed into oncoming traffic, sits at the southern edge of that same study zone. CDOT's speed analysis covered mile points 103 through 119, the full stretch from Ridgway to the Montrose County line. Whether any additional countermeasures are planned for that specific segment has not been announced, and the investigation into exactly why the Caravan left its lane remains open.

With spring travel picking up along the San Juan corridor, Monday's evening commute hour proved fatal. Seatbelts remain the single most direct factor in survivability in head-on crashes at highway speeds, a detail state investigators are certain to weigh as they reconstruct what happened near Orvis Hot Springs.