Wake County: Crash closes Six Forks Road at I-540; WRAL says driver hospitalized

In Wake County, Six Forks Road is closed at Interstate 540 west after a crash, the N.C. Department of Transportation says.

WRAL, citing a State Highway Patrol official, reported that a single car left an off-ramp around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, went over the overpass, and crashed back onto the interstate. The station wrote that the driver was taken to a hospital. Their condition was not given.

The official board

NCDOT Triangle posted that the road was shut at I-540 west, incident 26103100008. Those notices ran from 3:08 a.m. through 5:49 a.m. Eastern.

DriveNC event 2610868, read later Saturday morning, still carried that closed wording. The page stamped a start of 5:49 a.m. and a last update of 5:58 a.m. Its internal id is ATMS_1031000092.

The same NCDOT account also posted a "Cleared" notice for that incident at 3:11 a.m., then kept repeating the shutdown. We are not treating the 3:11 a.m. line as a reopen.

What only WRAL reports

The station, at 7:42 a.m., still described the crossing as blocked. It said the wreck knocked down power lines and traffic lights and sparked a fire in woods beside the overpass that was quickly put out.

City of Raleigh crews were repairing those signals and lines, that page said. The patrol, WRAL added, expected crews to remain until about 8 a.m.

WRAL's tracker arrived around 2 a.m. and saw close to a dozen patrol vehicles plus a fire engine, with lines and signals down across the pavement.

NCDOT's posts and the DriveNC page do not mention a hospital, an airborne path, or a fire.

What we don't know yet

Officials have not named the driver or said whether anyone else was hurt. We have not read a written patrol release. DriveNC had not posted a later reopen when we checked.

Timeline

• In the 1:30 a.m. hour Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026: WRAL times crews at the wreck (Highway Patrol, via WRAL).
• About 2 a.m.: The station's tracker sees patrol cars, a fire engine, and downed lines.
• 3:08 a.m.: NCDOT Triangle posts the closed notice for incident 26103100008.
• 3:11 a.m.: That account posts a "Cleared" line for the same incident, then resumes closed notices.
• 5:49 a.m.; last DriveNC stamp 5:58 a.m.: The state's board still lists the closure.
• 7:42 a.m.: WRAL publishes its account and still describes that crossing as shut.

What happens next

Check DriveNC or 511 before you travel. Triangle Local is not the Highway Patrol or NCDOT. This is not an emergency notice. If anyone is in danger, call 911.

Photos

Text-only. No outlet or agency photos are used here.