Motorists were scrambling to find a way around three crashes Wednesday, including two that delayed traffic on I-65 near the 61-mile marker for hours.
The incidents began at 5:55 a.m. Wednesday in the interstate’s southbound lanes when a semi ran off the roadway, blocking one of the lanes for several hours, and then both lanes for some time as a wrecker cleared it from the scene, Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputies said.
The driver, identified as Scott Pearson, 65, Louisville, Kentucky, was extricated from the cab by firefighters and stabilized by paramedics before being transported by helicopter to IU Health Methodist Hospital, Indianapolis, deputies said.
Pearson was listed in critical condition Wednesday afternoon, hospital officials said. Deputy Teancum Clark was the primary investigator, assisted by Sgt. T.A. Smith and Deputy Dustin Newland.
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As work at that crash scene continued, sheriff deputies were also called to a truck rollover at 9:40 a.m. Wednesday on County Road 400W between State Road 58 and Deaver Road. Injuries were listed as minor in the single-vehicle accident, although the truck spilled its load across the roadway, deputies said.
The truck was removed and the scene cleared at about 1:15 p.m. Wednesday.
At about the same time the County Road 400W crash was cleared, sheriff’s deputies and Indiana State Police returned to the 61-mile marker on I-65, this time to the northbound lanes, for another accident involving two semis and a car, state police said.
Details on that crash have not been released, but the northbound lanes reopened at about 1:40 p.m., according to Indiana State Police.
Both interstate crashes occurred in a construction zone area south of Columbus where workers have slowed traffic to 50 mph while they work to add another travel lane in each direction between Columbus and Seymour.
State police advised motorists to avoid the interstate between the two cities for most of Wednesday morning and diverted much of the traffic to State Road 11.
Bartholomew County Sheriff deputies reported heavy traffic and delays on State Road 11 near Columbus during the day Wednesday.
