A gray 2012 Honda Accord barreled up the northbound I-95 on-ramp at Delaware Avenue and Lombard Street early Sunday morning, only the ramp was closed for construction, and the car slammed into a massive, unoccupied crane left standing on the site. The crash happened around 4:04 a.m. and left three men hospitalized, two of them in critical condition.
According to NBC10 Philadelphia, the Honda had been traveling northbound on Delaware Avenue before the driver attempted to enter the closed on-ramp and struck the stationary, oversized construction crane parked there. The driver, a man, suffered injuries to his right leg and right shoulder and was taken to Jefferson Main Hospital in stable condition.
His two passengers fared much worse. The front-seat passenger, also a man, was transported to Jefferson Main Hospital in critical condition, while the back-seat passenger, another man, was taken to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, also listed in critical condition. The Philadelphia Police Department said the investigation into the crash remains ongoing.
Why That Ramp Was Closed in the First Place
The on-ramp the Honda tried to enter is tied to a major, years-long construction effort along the Delaware River waterfront. The Lombard Circle ramp from Columbus Boulevard to northbound I-95 is slated to stay shut for two years, the station notes in reporting shared by PhillyVoice. The extended closure is meant to give crews room to demolish a concrete pier and lay a foundation for an expanded cap over the highway — part of the broader Penn’s Landing cap project.
With the Lombard Circle ramp out of commission, drivers heading to northbound I-95 have been rerouted to an on-ramp at Summer Street, roughly a mile north along Columbus Boulevard, per the same account. It’s unclear whether that detour, or the signage marking the closure, factored into Sunday’s crash in any way.
A Broader Pattern of Work-Zone Dangers
Sunday’s wreck adds to a string of recent crashes tied to active construction zones around the Philadelphia region. Pennsylvania recorded nearly 1,400 work zone crashes and 12 fatalities in 2025, according to a notice from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation urging drivers to slow down and pay attention near construction.
Just weeks ago, a man was killed after crashing a dump truck into another construction vehicle in a work zone on I-476 in Montgomery County, according to CBS News Philadelphia. Pennsylvania State Police said that crash happened on northbound I-476 near mile marker 25.3 in Whitpain Township around 2:30 a.m., in an active zone where the left and center lanes were closed but the right lane remained open. The dump truck ultimately struck a parked water truck; its operator was not hurt. That crash, like Sunday’s incident on I-95, remains under investigation.
No further updates on the condition of the two critically injured men had been released as of Sunday. The circumstances that led the driver to enter the closed ramp have not been determined.
