A deadly two-vehicle crash on eastbound Interstate 10 near Johnson Road outside Buckeye forced officials to shut down all eastbound lanes Monday afternoon, leaving Phoenix-bound drivers stranded with no immediate reopening time. Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers responded to the reported crash just after 2 p.m., and the closure quickly backed up traffic across the Far West Valley.
According to AZ Family, the crash involved two passenger vehicles and was confirmed deadly by Arizona DPS. State transportation officials closed all eastbound lanes of I-10 near Johnson Road, cutting off the primary route toward Phoenix for drivers in the Far West Valley. A separate 12News report, dated October 5, 2026, said eastbound lanes near milepost 106 at Hassayampa Road were closed as of 2:30 p.m.
The shutdown forced commuters onto alternate routes through Buckeye as emergency crews worked the scene. Just over a week earlier, a multi-vehicle pileup near Bullard Avenue sent 10 people to the hospital and snarled traffic across the same West Valley corridor.
A Corridor With a Troubling Track Record
Monday's crash adds to a documented pattern of severe collisions on this segment of I-10. An analysis of federal highway safety data by AZ Law Now found that 40 fatal truck crashes occurred on the 93-mile stretch between Quartzsite and Buckeye from 2015 to 2024, killing 56 people in a corridor where commercial trucks make up 48% of total traffic, according to the firm's October investigation. Front-to-rear collisions accounted for more than half of those fatal truck crashes, the same analysis found.
The 30-mile stretch between Loop 303 and the Hassayampa River is another section of the I-10 corridor near Buckeye.
Buckeye recorded 970 motor vehicle crashes and seven traffic deaths in 2024, while Maricopa County recorded 594 traffic deaths.
Growth Outpacing the Highway
Buckeye continues to expand around the I-10 corridor.
Last September, a rollover crash on eastbound I-10 near Palo Verde Road killed three family members, immediately followed by a secondary collision involving two semi-trucks nearby in Tonopah, according to FOX 10 Phoenix.
