A crash just after midnight before the Sunset Road exit on I-77 Northbound left three people seriously hurt and spilled gas across the roadway, forcing crews to shut down the express lanes in north Charlotte for hours overnight.
MEDIC said three people were seriously injured in the wreck, according to WSOC-TV. The crash caused a gas spill on the highway, and emergency crews worked through the night to clear it, the station reported.
Hours-Long Closure Before Reopening
Responders closed the express lanes for hours while they worked the scene and cleaned up the spill, per the same report. By the time the station's update was published, the lanes were back open after crews finished clearing the area.
Details beyond that remain limited. The cause of the crash, how many or what kind of vehicles were involved, the identities and conditions of those hurt, and the exact amount of fuel spilled have not been reported.
A Known Trouble Spot on I-77
This stretch of I-77 near Sunset Road has seen trouble before. A separate multiple-car crash previously shut down all southbound lanes of I-77 near Sunset Road, including the toll lanes, according to a different WSOC-TV report.
Crashes along the I-77 South Express Lanes corridor have also drawn scrutiny. A September analysis found the stretch averages roughly six crashes a day, nearly 2.8 times North Carolina's statewide average, as WBTV reported amid a broader debate over the lanes' future.
Fuel spills tied to highway crashes have also surfaced elsewhere recently. Near Seattle, a three-car crash involving a semitrailer leaked diesel onto northbound I-5 close to Boeing Field, closing lanes and injuring one driver, Hoodline reported.
