Southwest Freeway NB at Beltway back open after SUV fell off HOV ramp to freeway below
By Courtney Carpenter
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HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — An SUV crashed through the concrete barrier of the IH-69 Southwest Freeway HOV flyover ramp, landing in the northbound lanes below, just before Beltway-8 West, METRO said Tuesday morning.
It happened at about 6:24 a.m.
The driver was heading northbound in the HOV lane, when he or she hit the walls of the t-ramp at the West Bellfort HOV entrance ramp.
The SUV barreled through the walls and launched into the mainlanes of the freeway, where it hit two other vehicles.
SkyEye was over the scene, where helicopter reporter Don Armstrong noted there’s a large hole in the retaining wall along the ramp.
Chunks of debris from the destroyed wall are all over the freeway.
Crews worked to clean up the mainlanes and by 11:30 a.m., those had reopened. The HOV, as of that time, is still closed.
The drivers of the two vehicles that were hit didn’t suffer major injuries, METRO said.
However, the driver and the passenger of the SUV were taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The crash is under investigation.
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