Southbound Interstate 35 in downtown Austin remains closed Friday afternoon, October 2, after an 18-wheeler struck an elevated bridge at 11th and 12th streets. The crash triggered massive traffic delays, extensive debris cleanup, and required structural safety inspections by the Texas Department of Transportation before any lanes can reopen.
How the Crash and Bridge Strike Paralyzed Downtown Austin Traffic
A heavy semi-truck collision brought morning commuting traffic to a near standstill across Central Austin after the commercial vehicle slammed directly into an overpass. The incident occurred at approximately 11 a.m. on Friday, October 2, shutting down the main southbound lanes of Interstate 35 at 11th and 12th streets, according to the Austin Police Department.
Emergency response vehicles and traffic control crews immediately restricted the corridor. Law enforcement officers funneled crawling vehicles through the far right shoulder to bypass the impact zone, but the restriction created an immense bottleneck. By midday, monitoring data from the Texas Department of Transportation showed southbound congestion stretching backward all the way to Airport Boulevard, with vehicles inching along at roughly 11 mph and travel times surging past 30 minutes between U.S. 183 and Cesar Chavez Street.
Database resources like SigAlert reported that vehicles near exits 234 and 235 backed up past East 51st Street. Both municipal and state traffic cameras displayed heavy, stationary queues near the crash site as midday approached.
Police officials confirmed that clearing the accident site required prolonged road closures well into the afternoon. In a midday update, authorities warned motorists to prepare for a disrupted evening commute home.
Just after 1 p.m., the Austin Police Department issued an updated advisory stating the interstate would remain shuttered for another couple of hours in order to clean up significant debris.
State infrastructure engineers from the Texas Department of Transportation’s Austin District deployed to the scene to conduct thorough technical inspections of the struck overpass. Law enforcement emphasized that the highway cannot resume normal operations until engineers formally classify the bridge structure as safe.
Officials Advise Drivers to Avoid Blocked Downtown Lanes
With central downtown lanes effectively blocked, local police and transportation officials urged drivers to avoid the corridor entirely. Commuters attempting to drive around the closure were advised to use alternate thoroughfares such as the MoPac Expressway (Loop 1), Highway 183, or secondary southbound surface streets.
Emergency services, including Austin-Travis County EMS, were mobilized to evaluate the scene and check the truck’s occupants and any nearby motorists for potential injuries. Meanwhile, the exact cause of the morning collision remains under active investigation by law enforcement.
The incident marks the second major bridge strike along the region’s primary highway arterial in as many weeks. Exactly one week prior, on Friday, September 25, another commercial bridge strike forced the shutdown of southbound I-35 at Onion Creek Parkway starting at 5.45 a.m., causing morning delays before reopening around 9 a.m.
