Denton

Improvements Planned To Increase Safety After Multi-Vehicle Crash on I-35 in Denton

Firefighters rescued a person inside that car – and they say it’s “miraculous” no one died in this crash Thursday near University Drive 

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The Denton Fire Department posted pictures of a car crushed beneath an 18-wheeler on I-35 in Denton Thursday.

That stretch of highway has a notorious reputation and there are accidents on it, sometimes daily.  

Pictures show mangled cars scattered along the highway, and another car, pinned underneath an 18-wheeler that was carrying motor oil.

Firefighters spent nearly an hour cutting through debris to free the driver trapped underneath the 18-wheeler.  

“When you have situations like that, there are nearly all the time fatalities. To have someone basically crawl out of the wreckage once we were finally able to get to them, with only minor injuries, was pretty miraculous actually,” said Battalion Chief David Boots. 

Boots said a combination of rush hour combined with congestion from traffic merging and exiting, all within one mile creates a ‘nightmare for drivers.’ 

“We get a lot of rear-end accidents, from people trying to merge, and they come up on people trying to exit, and they run into each other,” said Boots. 

TxDOT shared this plan on improving safety in that area. 

"TxDOT plans to spend more than $1 billion along the I-35 corridor in Denton in coming years to improve safety and mobility. Current plans for the I-35 and US 380 interchange call for it to be fully reconstructed starting in the next several years. These improvements include reconstructing and widening I-35 and the frontage roads as well as relocating the northbound I-35 exit ramp to US 380 approximately 2,300 feet south of the existing exit ramp, which will give drivers more time and space to proceed to the interchange. In the meantime, TxDOT is looking at crash reports and will work with the city of Denton to see if there are interim improvements that can be made."

Denton Police are still investigating what led up to the crash. 

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