Highway 61 NB reopens in east metro after fatal crash
NEWPORT, Minn. — A stretch of highway in the east metro has reopened after a fatal crash caused a closure earlier Monday morning.
Highway 61 northbound was closed between Interstate 494 in Newport and Lower Afton Road in St. Paul, but reopened around 7:20 a.m.
The Minnesota State Patrol said a driver in a pickup truck left the road and hit a tree around 4:30 a.m. The driver, a 53-year-old from Hastings, was not wearing a seat belt and died in the crash, the patrol said. He has not been publicly identified.
No other vehicles were involved in the crash.