Two die in head-on, wrong-way crash on U.S. 1 heading into the Florida Keys, authorities say
Two men died in a head-on crash Wednesday afternoon on the 18 Mile Stretch of U.S. 1 that leads into the Florida Keys, according to authorities.
The crash happened shortly before 4 p.m. near mile marker 124, on the Miami-Dade end of the stretch of highway that connects Florida City on the mainland to Key Largo.
Lt. Alejandro Camacho of the Florida Highway Patrol said a brown Chevrolet sedan was traveling north in the southbound lane and collided with a Toyota pickup truck. The drivers of both vehicles “died on scene as a result of the crash,” Camacho said.
Adam Linhardt, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said southbound traffic reopened shortly after 8 p.m. after being shut down for hours, but there was still major congestion on the road.
Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the crash, the agency said.
While the southbound lanes of the Stretch were shut down, traffic entering the Keys was diverted to Card Sound Road, the other main artery connecting the mainland to the island chain.
Head-on collisions on the 18 Mile Stretch were common before the Florida Department of Transportation erected a three-foot high concrete barrier separating north and southbound traffic through the entirety of the highway in 2011. The section of U.S. 1 averaged 10 to 13 fatalities a year before the barrier went up.
Since then, however, tragedies like Wednesday’s crash are rare on the Stretch.
This developing story will be updated.
This story was originally published May 11, 2022 at 5:10 PM.
