Semi-truck driver dies after crashing onto railroad tracks below I-295 near Commonwealth, FHP says

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A semi-truck driver was killed Friday morning after the truck he was driving on Interstate 295 went down an embankment and crashed onto railroad tracks.

The driver, identified as a 61-year-old man from Willis, Texas, was taken to a local hospital, where he later died, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

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The crash happened around 10:41 a.m., and afterward, all lanes of I-295 at Commonwealth Avenue were closed, FHP said.

Cars were being rerouted off I-295 onto Commonwealth. Just before 3:30 p.m., the right lane reopened.

The man was the only one in the semi-truck and no other vehicles were involved in the crash, according to an FHP news release.

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A CSX spokesperson confirmed that the train tracks the semi-truck fell on belong to CSX.

The CSX spokesperson said the track is an “industry track that serves local businesses and is not used for mainline or passenger operations.”

The track serves less than one train a day and a team is ready to go to repair the tracks, CSX said. FHP needs to remove the truck.

Action News Jax’s Meghan Moriarty spoke with a woman who called 911.

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“I noticed a truck parked right there at the track and I’m sort of like, ‘What’s going on,’” Susan Merritt said. “I turn around I see there’s a semi up under the overpass on the railroad track, so I start running down the track.”

Merritt eventually made it to the truck and found other people who were trying to help the driver.

“The truck’s almost unrecognizable. Several people trying to determine if he [the driver] was OK, but the truck was just … it was destroyed.”

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