RALEIGH, N.C. — A driver ended up in the hospital early Saturday in Raleigh, N.C., after a car left a ramp at the Six Forks Road interchange, sailed over the overpass and slammed down onto Interstate 540.
Emergency crews were called to the wreck at about 1:30 a.m. A state Highway Patrol official said no other vehicles were involved. The driver was hurt and taken to a hospital, and there has been no update on that person’s condition.
As the car went over, it took out power lines and traffic signals. Sparks from the damage set the woods beside the overpass on fire, though firefighters knocked the flames down quickly. Roughly a dozen patrol cars and a fire engine were on the scene within half an hour.
Traffic engineers shut Six Forks Road at westbound I-540, along with the westbound ramp from the interstate onto Six Forks. State transportation officials kept posting the closure notice from just after 3 a.m. until nearly 6 a.m., and the state traveler map still showed the road blocked a little before 6.
State highway officials with NCDOT say Six Forks Road and the ramp are open again. The agency has not said exactly when the lanes cleared, and by midday Saturday the closure entry on the state traveler map had been taken down.
Troopers have not said what caused the car to leave the ramp or whether charges are expected. The car first lifted off while on an exit ramp, then cleared the overpass before coming down on the interstate below, and the road stayed shut for several hours afterward.
Section: More Raleigh NC crime news
Filed under: Raleigh NC Traffic News
