A late-night wrong-way crash on I-495 near Chelmsford's Hunt Road overpass Tuesday sent three people to local hospitals, shut down the southbound side of the highway at Exit 88 for hours and left at least one person with life-threatening injuries, according to town officials. First responders and highway crews worked deep into the night to treat victims, investigate the collision and clear mangled debris from the roadway.
What Officials Say About The Collision
Troopers from the Massachusetts State Police's Concord Barracks were called out shortly before 10 p.m. after a driver heading the wrong direction on I-495 South slammed into another vehicle near the Hunt Road overpass, according to WCVB. State police said two vehicles were involved and that investigators were working overnight to piece together exactly how the wrong-way driver ended up in the southbound lanes.
Injuries And Medical Response
Chelmsford Fire Chief Gary Ryan told Boston 25 News that three people hurt in the crash were taken to area hospitals. How they got there depends on which report you read. WHDH and other outlets report that a seriously injured driver was flown from the highway by medical helicopter, while Boston 25 News says the wrong-way driver was transported by ambulance and another victim was airlifted.
Traffic Impact And Travel Headaches
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation closed I-495 southbound at Exit 88 and warned drivers to expect a lengthy shutdown and find alternate routes, according to updates relayed in local coverage. Backup and detours spilled onto nearby surface streets as crews worked to remove wrecked vehicles and scattered debris from the southbound lanes, WCVB reported.
Why Wrong-Way Crashes Hit So Hard
Wrong-way collisions on divided highways are disproportionately deadly and tend to happen at night, and Massachusetts has been rolling out a wrong-way vehicle detection pilot that triggers flashing warnings and alerts for troopers and highway operators, according to an overview by the Associated Press. Local coverage and AAA data cited in past reporting show hundreds of wrong-way deaths and thousands of injuries over the last decade in Massachusetts, underscoring why officials keep stressing the need for rapid detection and public alerts, per WBUR.
The Chelmsford crash remains under investigation, and state police have asked anyone with information to contact investigators. Officials said they expect to share more details as the probe continues, according to WHDH.
