The northbound lanes of the Howard Frankland Bridge leading out of Pinellas County have been reopened after an early-morning multi-vehicle crash. 

  • Crash leading onto Howard Frankland Bridge
  • NB lanes out of Pinellas County have been reopened
  • BN9 Traffic resources

Shortly before noon, the Florida Highway Patrol confirmed that the crash involved a fatality. The victim's name hasn't been released.

According to the FHP, the crash happened just before 5 a.m. and involved an RV. The crash happened on the interstate just past 4th Street - where I-275 becomes the Howard Frankland.

Troopers said a furniture dolly in the roadway started the chain-reaction crash. 

At 4:41 a.m., a car struck the dolly and lost control, hitting the RV, which then crashed into the barrier wall. The RV took a chunk of concrete out of the wall upon impact. 

A pick-up truck then struck the RV and overturned. The driver of the pick-up was taken to Tampa General Hospital.

The crashed closed the bridge to northbound traffic for several hours. Lanes were slowly reopened to traffic just before 8 a.m. 

Delays remained on the bridge and in the Gandy Boulevard-Ulmerton Road-Roosevelt Boulevard areas long after the crash.