Crash overturns vehicle, shuts down I-40 westbound near Garner

A rollover crash shut down westbound Interstate 40 near Garner for about two hours Sunday afternoon, turning the stretch just west of the U.S. 70 exit into a stalled corridor and backing traffic up for about two miles.

The wreck was called in just after 3:20 p.m. near mile marker 305. CBS 17 reported that at least one vehicle overturned and that the crash appeared to involve a white van and another vehicle. All westbound lanes closed immediately, and two ambulances were on scene while several officers and possible witnesses gathered in the median.

Traffic disruption spread quickly through the Garner area. CBS 17 reported backups on the ramp from U.S. 70 to I-40 and congestion well beyond the exit as drivers tried to move around the crash scene. A second lane reopened around 4:30 p.m., but the highway remained clogged until crews fully reopened westbound I-40 around 5:20 p.m.

The cause of the wreck and the condition of anyone injured were not immediately clear. CBS 17 said it had reached out to the Garner Police Department and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol for more information. For drivers trying to sort out whether to stay on I-40 or detour, North Carolina’s DriveNC system and the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s traffic pages are the state’s main real-time sources for closures, crashes, congestion and work zones.

The Sunday crash also fit a familiar and frustrating pattern on this part of Wake County. On May 10, 2024, ABC11 reported a major crash on I-40 West near Garner that involved at least 10 vehicles, closed all lanes near U.S. 70 and reopened by 5:30 p.m. Two years earlier, on July 18, 2018, ABC11 reported a rollover near Garner’s White Oak area that killed a 10-year-old girl and injured four other people after a tire blowout.

Taken together, those crashes show why the I-40 West corridor near Garner can become a regional choke point in minutes. With westbound lanes, the U.S. 70 connector and nearby ramps all feeding the same stretch, a single overturned vehicle can snarl one of Wake County’s most important routes and slow travel toward Raleigh, the south side of the county and points beyond.