A single vehicle carrying five people crashed Wednesday night near the intersection of Highway 66 and Westminster Road in Arcadia, Oklahoma, injuring everyone inside. Two of the occupants were in critical condition, according to Edmond firefighters, and all five were taken to OU Health for treatment.
Multiple agencies responded to the wreck, which happened on the stretch of Route 66 near the Pops 66 landmark, as reported by News 9. As of Wednesday night, investigators had not released details about what caused the crash, the outlet noted.
Pops 66's Giant Soda Bottle Towers Over the Crash Site
The crash site sits near Pops 66 Soda Ranch, the roadside attraction at 660 W. Route 66 known for its 66-foot LED-lit soda bottle sculpture, according to TravelOK.com. Opened in 2007 by the late oil executive Aubrey McClendon, the gas station and diner draws nearly 500,000 visitors a year and serves as a focal point for travelers along the historic route.
Less than a mile east of Westminster Road stands the Arcadia Round Barn, built in 1898 and restored in 1992 — the only round barn on Route 66 and a listing on the National Register of Historic Places — per the Oklahoma Route 66 Association. Arcadia itself remains a rural community of fewer than 300 residents, situated about 15 miles northeast of Oklahoma City and six miles east of Interstate 35, according to Road Trip USA.
Edmond Paramedics and OU Health's Only Level I Trauma Team Take Over
Arcadia sits outside Edmond's city limits, but the City of Edmond's fire department provides Advanced Life Support coverage into surrounding unincorporated parts of eastern Oklahoma County, which is why its firefighters were on scene delivering paramedic care. Its apparatus are staffed by certified paramedics capable of immediate advanced life support, per the same city agency.
OU Health University of Oklahoma Medical Center in Oklahoma City is the state's only Level I trauma center, according to OU Health. The facility's 32 operating rooms and specialized surgical teams provide round-the-clock, multi-specialty care for life-threatening injuries, the hospital notes.
Highway Patrol Investigation Comes Amid a Rough Summer on This Stretch
Because the crash happened in an unincorporated part of Oklahoma County, primary investigative responsibility typically falls to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol's Traffic Homicide and Collision Investigation units, working alongside county sheriff's deputies, per The Journal Record. State troopers hold primary responsibility for investigating serious injury collisions on state highways outside major municipal police departments, the paper notes.
Wednesday's wreck echoes a five-vehicle collision involving three motorcycles on Route 66 near Arcadia Lake about a month earlier, on July 4, which left four people with serious injuries, according to OKCFOX.
A Rural Corridor Long Flagged for Safety Upgrades
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation has funding earmarked specifically for turn lanes, pedestrian crossings and wider shoulders at the Westminster Road intersection, according to Oklahoma.gov. The upgrades come as Route 66, first commissioned in 1926, marks its centennial this year — a milestone state officials say is driving increased tourist traffic to rural corridors like Arcadia, per the same agency.
Oklahoma County's emergency management office has flagged narrow shoulders, two-lane configurations and limited nighttime lighting on rural stretches of Highway 66 as recurring safety vulnerabilities during high-volume travel periods, according to Oklahoma County Government. It's the latest in a string of severe crashes across the Oklahoma City metro this summer, following a deadly hit-and-run crash in south Oklahoma City in July.
