I-696 back open after fatal crash involving wrong-way driver

All lanes of westbound I-696 are back open in Macomb County after a fatal crash near I-94 shutdown traffic.

The Michigan Department of Transportation was guiding people back off the highway at Gratiot and back onto I-696 at Groesbeck due to the wreck, which was caused by a wrong-way driver.

Footage of the scene showed the aftermath of a head-on collision.

Debris from the impact was strewn across all four westbound lanes. One vehicle was on the shoulder and the other near the median. Both had front-end damage.

According to Michigan State Police, calls started coming in around 3:30 a.m. of a wrong-way driver near Coolidge Highway. Troopers located the vehicle at Dequindre Road and followed the suspect, attempting to alert the wrong-way driver. 

Moments later, it struck a Chevy SUV head-on, killing the driver. 

The driver of the wrong-way vehicle is suspected of having been intoxicated. They suffered minor injuries. The investigation is ongoing.