Semi truck crash shuts down northbound lanes of I-35 near downtown Austin

Northbound traffic on Interstate 35 ground to a complete halt early Monday morning after a heavy 18-wheeler collided with the central median near Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Emergency responders rushed to the downtown corridor shortly after the impact, locking down both the lower deck and several main travel lanes to secure the area for rescue operations.

Police officers and medical personnel managed the chaotic scene as twisted metal and shattered glass blocked the busy thoroughfare. First responders quickly transported two individuals from the collision site to a nearby medical center for urgent evaluation and medical treatment.

Hospital representatives said that one of the hospitalized patients suffered critical injuries during the violent highway impact. Police investigators spent several hours examining the heavily damaged commercial vehicle and the displaced concrete barrier to determine the exact sequence of events that caused the driver to veer off course.

The early morning shutdown triggered massive traffic backups that rippled across central Austin and heavily strained local surface streets during the morning commute. City transportation authorities urged motorists to avoid the downtown corridor entirely and choose alternate routes while municipal crews deployed heavy machinery to haul away the disabled semi truck.

Environmental cleanup teams also swept the asphalt for hazardous fluid leaks spilled from the large rig during the intense collision. Texas Department of Transportation workers finished clearing the remaining wreckage from the lanes and restored normal vehicle access to the highway.

City officials said that electronic message boards along regional corridors alerted drivers to the delays and directed them away from the bottleneck. Maintenance crews completed minor guardrail repairs before fully reopening the roadway to the public.