What Happened
A crash on the westbound Long Island Expressway in Queens County blocked two right lanes on Saturday, August 15, 2026. The incident is rated minor in severity. No exact time of the collision, vehicle count, or cause has been confirmed by official sources.
The lane blockage placed westbound traffic on I-495 at a pinch point in Queens, where the expressway funnels drivers toward the Midtown Tunnel and the broader New York City road network. No injuries, fatalities, or arrests have been reported in connection with this crash.
Location & Road Context
The westbound Long Island Expressway through Queens County is among the most heavily traveled stretches of the corridor. According to Long Island Traffic’s incident registry, I-495 has recorded 116 incidents in the past 30 days and 376 so far in 2026. Queens County has logged 260 accidents in the same local database.
Four days before this crash, on August 14, 2026, a travel advisory warned of overnight closures on westbound I-495 through Nassau County’s North Hempstead and Oyster Bay. Additional crashes rated moderate and minor hit the same corridor on August 13 and 14, per Long Island Traffic’s recent I-495 incident log. The most recent prior fatal crash on I-495 was recorded on August 11, 2026.