Wrong-way driver triggers I-494 crash, injuries near airport
Updated 1:50 pm.
Three women were injured in a crash on Interstate 494 in Bloomington Tuesday morning when a driver headed the wrong way down the freeway, just south of Terminal 2 at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport.
The Minnesota State Patrol said 76-year-old Arvilla Beckman of St. Paul turned her minivan onto the freeway near 34th Avenue and headed east in the westbound lanes of I-494 just before 10:30 a.m.
Another woman from St. Paul, Nicole Gardner, swerved her sedan to avoid the wrong way driver and hit a median.
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The minivan then hit a compact SUV head-on, causing that vehicle to roll over several times, coming to rest in the traffic lanes on I-494.
All three women, including 34-year-old Rebecca Leagjeld, of Burnsville, were hurt in the crash.
The State Patrol said all three apparently suffered non-life threatening injuries. No one else was injured in the crash.
The crash caused a major backup on I-494, coming from the Pilot Knob Road interchange in Eagan.
Airport police and the State Patrol are investigating. The patrol said alcohol was not believed to be a factor in the crash.