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Deemed one of the most dangerous highways in America by Reader's Digest in 1999, U.S. Highway 6 has seen marked improvement in safety and less serious and fatal accidents in the past decade, despite a fatal accident April 3 that claimed the lives of two Ogden siblings.

Katherine Marcus, 16, and Taylor Marcus, 12, were killed when their Nissan Maxima was broadsided by a Jeep near Thistle Junction, where U.S. Highway 6 intersects with U.S. Highway 89. The teens' funeral services are set for Thursday.

The portion of Highway 6 that runs between Spanish Fork and Price is a well-traveled road and is favored by truckers because it is one of the shortest routes between Denver and Salt Lake City. It is also popular for tourists traveling from Utah and Salt Lake valleys to the national parks of southeastern Utah.

"Any time we have a terrible crash that claims lives we evaluate the area," said John Gleason, public information officer for the Utah Department of Transportation. "In the case of the intersection of where these two lives were claimed, we would consider any features that would increase safety, like signs or a light."

Crash statistics for the intersection of Highway 6 and Highway 89 for the past five years show that in 2009, 2010 and 2012 there was just one crash each year. In 2011 and 2013 there were no crashes. And during the five-year period there were zero fatalities.

"This was the first fatal crash in this intersection in the last five years," Gleason said.

In 1999, Highway 6 had only two lanes of travel between Spanish Fork Canyon and Price, with narrow shoulders and no dividers. But in 2002, then Governor Mike Leavitt pledged $80 million to begin projects to make Highway 6 safer. The projects included scraping away the mountainside to straighten and widen the road near Tucker. An additional $187 million has since gone into making additional fixes on the highway.

"We have improved the safety by widening the road from two lanes to four lanes," Gleason said. "We have also added a median barrier and rumble strips."

The rumble strips are along the shoulders and center lanes, and warn drivers before they drift into oncoming traffic or off the side of the road. New signs have also been placed that inform drivers of when passing lanes are coming up and to show drivers how fast they are going.

"These improvements have really done a great job in improving the safety of the highway," Gleason said. "Over the past 15 years we have come a long way on Highway 6. Our accidents and fatalities have dropped dramatically.

"We have also improved statewide as well. In the year 2000, there were 373 people killed on Utah roads. Since that time we have seen a 41 percent drop in fatalities across the board." Gleason said the improvements have made a difference. In 2003, there were 17 fatalities on the Utah portion of Highway 6, the road's highest annual tally. A decade later there were five fatalities.

"Our goal is zero fatalities," Gleason said. "So even one fatality is too many. "We were at a 50-year low in 2012 in fatalities across the state. A 50-year low is a great accomplishment, but for those families who lost someone, they are not comforted by that, and we can't celebrate until we reach our goal and we won't be satisfied."

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