Two people were killed Monday afternoon in a multi-car crash on I-290 East in Marlborough that shut down the highway for nearly four hours, scattering debris across the roadway and snarling the evening commute for drivers throughout the region.
The crash happened at approximately 3:22 p.m. near Exit 30, according to WHDH 7News, which reported that Massachusetts State Police announced two people were killed in the multi-car wreck. Sky 7 HD footage cited by the outlet showed one car smashed and debris strewn across the highway. State troopers assigned to the Holden barracks responded to the scene, along with Marlboro Fire and EMS, per the same report.
MassDOT confirmed the closure of I-290 East at Exit 30, Solomon Pond Road, first announcing the shutdown at 3:28 p.m., according to the Shrewsbury Post. The closure forced heavy traffic diversions across Marlborough and Shrewsbury during Monday's evening rush hour, as drivers were routed off the eastbound lanes and asked to seek alternate routes.
Investigators Deploy Specialized Crash Units
All eastbound lanes remained shut for nearly four hours while the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, Crime Scene Services, and Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Section conducted an on-scene investigation, according to a Boston 25 News relay of state police information. Crews worked to clear the area near Exit 30 before vehicles could be towed and lanes reopened, WHDH 7News reported. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
The Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, known as C.A.R.S., relies on 3D laser scanners, drone aerial mapping, vehicle control module data extraction, and Newtonian physics calculations to reconstruct fatal highway crashes, according to information published by Mass.gov. Personnel assigned to the unit serve as certified expert witnesses who respond to major crashes across state-monitored roadways, the state notes.
A Corridor With a Troubled Summer
Monday's fatal crash adds to a string of severe incidents along the same stretch of I-290 this summer. Less than two months earlier, on June 24, a wrong-way head-on collision near Exit 27 in neighboring Northborough sent both vehicles up in flames and killed a 43-year-old Medway woman, according to the New Bedford Guide. Exit 27 and Exit 30 sit just miles apart along the Marlborough-Northborough town border.
Weeks after that fatal wreck, on July 14, a wrong-way driver heading west on I-290 in Northborough caused two vehicles to swerve into a guardrail before fleeing the scene, injuring one motorist, per Fiorentino Legal. Hoodline previously reported on that hit-and-run search for a midsize white passenger car with front-end damage.
Statewide Push to Curb Wrong-Way Crashes
The pattern of dangerous incidents comes as Massachusetts officials grapple with wrong-way driving statewide. Nearly 270 wrong-way driving citations were reported statewide by late June, prompting the state to launch a $75 million infrastructure project featuring thermal detection cameras and high-visibility ramp signage, according to a Boston Globe relay of state officials. Wrong-way collisions on Massachusetts highways are estimated to be at least 12 times deadlier than standard crashes, per that same account.
Monday's crash was not reported as a wrong-way incident, and the exact cause remains unresolved as investigators continue their work. I-290 itself stretches 20.1 miles from its western junction with I-90 and I-395 in Auburn, through Worcester, to its eastern terminus at I-495 in Marlborough, according to AARoads, making it a heavily trafficked link for commuters and freight moving between Worcester and the I-495 corridor.
Exit 30's Long History of Heavy Traffic
The Exit 30 interchange at Solomon Pond Road was expanded in 1995 and 1996 through a $5.2 million public-private project designed to handle high commercial traffic generated by the nearby Solomon Pond Mall, AARoads notes. That commercial density has kept the interchange busier than the surrounding rural stretches of highway.
MassDOT has since completed an I-290 Traffic Operations and Safety Master Plan to study high-crash locations and evaluate management improvements along the corridor, part of the agency's FY2025 State Planning and Research Program. The state's Capital Investment Plan for FY2027–2031 also allocates $14.75 million toward pavement preservation and roadway reliability along I-290 between mile markers 14.7 and 20.02 in Marlborough, funded through MassDOT's Highway Reliability Program.
Monday's fatal crash marks the latest in a series of deadly incidents on Central Massachusetts highways this year. Hoodline previously reported on a fatal I-495 rollover in Marlborough that killed a 35-year-old Framingham woman in April. As of Monday evening, authorities had not released the identities of the two people killed, and the investigation into the cause of the crash remained active.
