Early morning drivers in Silver Springs ran into something far worse than routine rush-hour traffic on Wednesday, as a deadly crash shut down a stretch of State Road 40 and turned the highway into a crime scene for hours.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers were called out around 2 a.m. to the intersection of State Road 40 and State Road 326 in Marion County, where a serious collision was reported. Troopers shut down SR-40 in both directions so investigators and emergency crews could work the scene and clear wreckage, according to WFTV.
With the main route blocked, the early commute got shuffled onto side roads. Drivers were diverted onto County Road 314 while troopers and cleanup crews spent hours processing the crash scene and removing debris.
By about 6:15 a.m., traffic finally started moving again. State Road 40 had fully reopened after crews finished clearing the roadway, WESH reported. The reopening capped several hours of overnight investigation that stretched into the first waves of morning traffic.
Marion County Sheriff’s deputies also stepped in to help manage the mess on the roads. They warned drivers to expect delays, urged motorists to use alternate routes, and directed traffic onto County Road 314 while the site was secured and cleared, according to WCJB.
Investigators had not released details about the people involved in the crash or what led up to the collision as of early Wednesday, and officials were still working to piece together exactly how the wreck unfolded.
Where This Stretch of SR-40 Stands in Safety Plans
The busy SR-40 corridor that runs through Silver Springs and Ocala is already on transportation planners’ radar. It appears on the Ocala-Marion TPO list of high-injury network segments, a safety report that flags roadways with elevated crash rates.
Recent incidents have reflected that risk. On April 4, the Florida Highway Patrol investigated a high-speed crash on SR-40 that killed a motorcyclist, FOX35 reported.
The Florida Highway Patrol is continuing to investigate Wednesday’s fatal crash, and officials had not released further information as of the morning update, according to WFTV. Drivers in the Silver Springs area may still see lingering slowdowns on nearby roads while the last of the cleanup and follow-up work plays out.
