Flooding closes US-1/US-64 in Cary after crash, no injuries reported

Floodwater turned US-1/US-64 south near SE Cary Parkway into a hazard in Cary on Sunday morning, forcing a lane closure after a single-vehicle crash and showing how quickly a familiar commuter route can become dangerous.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation alerted drivers around 8 a.m. that the left lane was closed as heavy rain continued across the Triangle. Cary police and town officials said the crash happened while the roadway was heavily flooded, and officers determined that no one was injured. By about 12:30 p.m., NCDOT said the highway had been cleared.

Town officials said a blocked drainage system likely contributed to the flooding, turning the incident into more than a weather-related inconvenience. On a corridor as busy as US-1/US-64, standing water can trigger sudden lane closures, force drivers to brake hard, and raise the risk of secondary crashes even when the first incident causes no injuries.

The event also points to the infrastructure pressures Cary is facing as development and traffic continue to build around major roads. The Town of Cary says its stormwater program is governed by federal and state requirements and includes monitoring, documenting and regulating stormwater runoff, flooding and pollution. The town also shares real-time and historical stream elevation and rainfall data through its flood-monitoring system, using sensors to support flood alerts, stormwater planning and floodplain improvements.

Cary says it has ongoing stormwater projects aimed at repairing, retrofitting and improving aging infrastructure to address flooding concerns. That work matters in places like the I-40/I-440/US-1/US-64 interchange area, which Cary and NCDOT have identified as a heavy-traffic corridor. NCDOT has said redesigning that interchange is intended to relieve congestion and handle the volume moving through the area.

For Wake County commuters, Sunday’s closure was a reminder that flood risk in Cary is not limited to low-lying neighborhoods. When rain falls hard and drainage falls behind, a major highway can become unusable within minutes, and even a single flooded lane can disrupt travel across one of the county’s most important road networks.