A Plum man died Sunday afternoon when his SUV drove off the Parkway East on the Swissvale side of the Squirrel Hill Tunnels and traveled down a steep, wooded embankment, coming to rest in a ravine about 200 feet below the road surface.

The accident snarled traffic for hours and led to the closure of the outbound lanes of the tunnel between the Beechwood Boulevard and Swissvale/Edgewood exits.

Pennsylvania State Police identified the driver as Ronald Russell Richards, 50.

Richards, who police said was the sole occupant of the SUV, was pronounced dead at the scene.

He was headed east on Interstate 376 around 12:19 p.m. when his vehicle left the roadway along the Commercial Street Bridge, which carries the parkway over Commercial Street, Nine Mile Run and Frick Park in Pittsburgh’s Swisshelm Park neighborhood.

The SUV struck a guardrail and went over an embankment. It was not known why Richards lost control.

Police shut down the outbound lanes through the tunnel until about 4:15 p.m.

Inbound traffic was not affected.

Autopsy results are pending as state police continue their investigation.

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