ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — Lanes were blocked on Interstate 35 northbound in Round Rock due to a multi-vehicle wreck Thursday morning, police said. This accident was nearly identical to another multi-vehicle crash on this same stretch of road just the day before.

The Round Rock Police Department said the highway was down to one lane near McNeil Road for two hours on Thursday morning.

KXAN Traffic Anchor Erica Brennes watched Thursday’s crash as it happened and took to Twitter to warn drivers about to hit the road.

RRPD said officers responded to two-multi vehicle wrecks on I-35 between Round Rock Avenue and McNeil Road. In total, 12 vehicles were involved in this scene, nine of which had to be towed away.

One person was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and one vehicle briefly caught fire.

The previous day saw similar wrecks. RRPD said units responded at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, just south of McNeil Road on northbound I-35, to two other multi-vehicle wrecks.

Fifteen vehicles were involved in this incident, 10 of which had to be towed.

One person was also taken to the hospital with minor injuries. Traffic was also shut down to one lane for two hours.

Police said its traffic division is still investigating the causes of these crashes. Several citations were handed out after these wrecks, and one arrest warrant was made.

Road construction and car wrecks

This troubled stretch of I-35 in Round Rock is being widened by the Texas Department of Transportation. This portion of the interstate is currently lined with construction equipment, cones and signs for roughly a mile.

Tucker Ferguson with TxDOT Austin said it’s common for areas of construction like this to see more car crashes.

He said this is likely due to motorists paying more attention to bulldozers and cranes than other cars around them.

“It all goes back to just paying attention to the task at hand,” Ferguson said.

This stretch is just one of 48 TxDOT projects underway or about to start in Williamson County, according to the agency’s project tracker.

Traffic dodgers cut corners at quilting shop

Tessa Gonzales works at a sewing and quilting shop just off the stretch of road where these crashes happened.

She said, when traffic backs up on the interstate, cars often cut through the shop’s parking lot to get around the slowdown. Many turn the corner faster than is safe, Gonzales said.

“We have customers that are unloading big, heavy things, and people are just whipping around the corner. It’s very dangerous,” Gonzales said.

She said she is used to the heavy traffic and construction on I-35, but drivers should still use caution, especially when driving through more commercial areas.

“We always know that 35 is just the forever project. It is what it is,” Gonzales said.