Motorcycle crash closes I-690 and I-481 ramps in DeWitt

A motorcycle crash shut down key ramps between I-690 and I-481 in DeWitt late Monday, cutting off one of Onondaga County’s busiest links and pushing traffic onto slower routes across the eastern suburbs. Onondaga County 911 dispatchers logged the call at 9:48 p.m., and the closure hit the I-690 eastbound ramp to I-481 and the I-481 northbound ramp to I-690.

The state alert system said all lanes were closed near Exit 88 and Exit 89A. The scene was still developing and the injury status was unclear, which meant crews were still sorting out how serious the collision was and how much of the roadway had to stay blocked while responders worked.

That interchange is especially vulnerable because it funnels commuters, emergency travel, airport trips and overnight workers through a tight set of ramps. For DeWitt residents heading to hospital shifts, airport trips or overnight work, the detour quickly adds minutes, and congestion can spread fast once one movement shuts down.

The DeWitt closure also fit a pattern on local interstates. On July 24, 2025, deputies were called to a motorcycle crash on southbound I-481 near the Henry Clay Boulevard overpass in Clay after an apparent rear tire blowout left a rider with serious injuries and sent him to Upstate University Hospital in serious but stable condition. On Aug. 21, 2025, State Police said a motorcycle struck the rear of a pickup truck on I-690 in Geddes after the truck changed lanes, killing a 21-year-old Baldwinsville man and shutting eastbound I-690 for hours.

The Clay case remains under investigation by the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, and the Geddes crash was investigated by the State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit. Together with Monday night’s closure, the crashes show how quickly a motorcycle wreck on these high-speed connectors can turn a routine drive through DeWitt into a countywide delay.