One person died and two people were injured after a wrong-way crash on Interstate 635 that shut down a stretch of lanes Thursday afternoon and evening, Irving police said.
About 2:30 p.m., police responded to reports of a vehicle driving eastbound on the westbound lanes of the interstate, police spokesman Robert Reeves said. The wrong-way car collided with another head-on, “resulting in the passenger of that vehicle dying at the scene,” he said.
The driver in the car that was struck was transported to Parkland Memorial Hospital with serious injuries believed to not be life-threatening, Reeves said. The driver of the wrong-way car was also taken to the hospital.
In a Facebook post from about 3 p.m., police urged motorists to avoid the interstate at North MacArthur Boulevard as first responders were investigating a fatal crash.
Texas Department of Transportation cameras showed vehicles being directed off the interstate on the boulevard with cars heading to the exit ramp. Lines of cars were blocked on the interstate on Olympus Boulevard about 6 p.m., the cameras showed.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/BC37IMMCUVGRDF2BMKYPHJCD5M.png)
TxDOT’s Dallas district said in a post on X a little after 5 p.m. that all lanes of the interstate are closed at the intersection of State Highway 161 and the Bush Turnpike. Eastbound lanes reopened at 7 p.m., according to TxDOT.
“Traffic detoured to frontage roads,” TxDOT said in the post. “It’s going to be tough going this way for next several hours; seek alternate route if possible.”
Westbound lanes of the interstate were closed through much of Thursday afternoon and evening. Reeves said investigators are working the scene to learn where the vehicle began driving the wrong way and “what possible contributing factors caused the driver” to do so.
