Thursday, 4:30 PM
Fatal accident snarls traffic throughout metro Boston
By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff, and Andrew Ryan, Globe Correspondent
A fatal accident on Interstate 93 earlier this afternoon has snarled traffic throughout the metropolitan Boston as rush hour is hitting its peak.
The 12:30 p.m. accident near Freeport Street in Dorchester has been cleared from the interstate, but traffic is still backed up as far as Braintree in the south. To the north, cars are jammed though the O'Neill Tunnel and into Somerville. Streets in South Boston and Dorchester are virtual parking lots.
"The incident is cleared, but it was cleared just as rush hour is hitting its peak," said Jeff Larson of SmartRoute Systems Inc., the traffic-watching firm. "Any traffic trying to access I-93 is backed up."
Andrew Square in South Boston has been hit especially hard by drivers getting off I-93. Boston transportation officials are asking drivers to remain on the highway.
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The name of the man who died this afternoon was not released.
Joseph Jackson, 24, was driving south on I-93 when he said he saw a white Toyota Solara make "a NASCAR-type move" and change lanes, cutting off a black Ford sports utility vehicle.
The Solara clipped the back of the SUV, Jackson said. The driver of the SUV lost control and flipped twice, crashing into a guard rail and landing upside-down.
The driver of the Solara pulled over and stopped about 100 yards in front of the crash, Jackson said. The accident remains under investigation.
