One person was left in serious condition Friday afternoon after a crash shut down a stretch of southbound U.S. 54 near Fred Wilson in Northeast El Paso, sending drivers scrambling for a detour during the evening commute. The El Paso Fire Department confirmed the injury, and traffic cameras showed the roadway closed before crews later let vehicles through on at least one lane.
The crash call came in at 3:45 p.m., according to a fire department spokesperson cited by KVIA. Officials closed the southbound lanes near Fred Wilson, based on TxDOT camera footage, and traffic was diverted to the Ellerthorpe exit while crews worked the scene.
Lane Reopens as Investigation Continues
Traffic cameras later showed vehicles moving again through at least one southbound lane of U.S. 54, per the same KVIA report. The cause of the crash, the number of vehicles involved and the identity of the person hurt have not been released.
Friday's incident is the latest in a string of crashes clustered around the same stretch of highway. In August, a crash on southbound U.S. 54 before Fred Wilson closed the right lane and caused a minor backup, according to cbs4local.com, with El Paso Fire responding and an estimated clearing time of about an hour.
A Stretch of Highway With a Troubled History
The Fred Wilson interchange has seen more than routine fender-benders. In September 2025, a person was initially reported in the hospital with serious injuries after being hit by a vehicle on U.S. 54 at Fred Wilson, cbs4local.com reported at the time, with the El Paso Police Department saying the person was struck at around 4:30 p.m. and TxDOT directing traffic to Exit 24A after all southbound lanes closed. A later report from KVIA said the pedestrian, identified as Caraballo, was hit by a car and killed in that same September 23 incident — accounts that differ on the extent of the injury but agree the crash happened at the same location. EPPD's Special Traffic Investigations unit looked into that case, according to cbs4local.com.
The intersection's history goes back further. A January 2023 crash closed all northbound lanes of U.S. 54 at Fred Wilson and backed up traffic to Pershing Drive after a 32-year-old passenger was fatally struck while retrieving a tarp that had fallen from a truck bed, as noted by KVIA. And in November 2025, a multi-vehicle crash blocked all northbound lanes before the Cassidy exit, leaving one person seriously injured and airlifted to a hospital while six others suffered minor injuries, according to KVIA; all lanes were eventually reopened.
What Remains Unknown
No official crash report, medical update or law-enforcement findings have been released for Friday's incident. It is not yet clear whether all southbound lanes of U.S. 54 have been fully reopened or what exactly caused the crash near Fred Wilson.
