TEAYS VALLEY, W.Va. — The Friday morning commute for those trying to get from Putnam County and points west into Charleston was a major headache.
A tandem-trailer semi from Fed-Ex lost control and crashed on I-64 in the east bound lanes. The wreckage blocked both east bound lanes and one west bound lane for an extended period of time.
“We got on scene and the tractor trailer had rolled on its side. It was leaking most off the diesel fuel on one side. The driver was fine and came out of the front windshield. We got him loaded and took him to the hospital,” said Andrew Kirby, Shift Commander for the Teays Valley Fire Department.
The wreck occurred in an area already narrowed for a major construction project which extends for several miles from the Scot Depot/U.S. Route 35 exit to the Nitro Bridge. Traffic came to a standstill from 12:30 until close to 8:00 a.m. Those already past the Scott Depot exit and headed east were stuck for the duration of the cleanup. The Division of Highways established a detour and routed vehicles off the interstate and onto Teays Valley Road to Route 817 to reenter the highway at the Nitro Bridge.
“At this time with all the construction going on and as bumpy as that interstate is right now, it definitely didn’t make anything better,” said Kirby.
Scott Eplin is Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Department of Transportation and admitted the road is rough, but didn’t know if that may have contributed to the accident.
“It shouldn’t play into causing a wreck of that magnitude, but you never know and that’s why we need to let it be investigated, review the findings, and see if any adjustments need to be made,” Eplin said.
Eplin said it was also unclear if speed may have been a contributing factor, but he did note speed in the work zone there and in most construction sites across the state is a major problem.
“That is a major issue in all work zones. For whatever reason, people will just not slow down,” he said.
The speed limit in the area of the crash is 55 miles an hour.
The semi turned over and landed partially off the highway and covered parts of three lanes. A median barrier was crushed and more than 100 gallons of diesel fuel spilled from the truck’s tanks before it could be stopped. Crews were faced with the difficult task of making those repairs after the wreckage was finally cleared from the scene. The narrow area made the whole recovery much more difficult.
“It’s a work zone and it did some infrastructure damage. That’s what took longer than it typically takes,” Eplin said. “It was a commercial vehicle that did do damage that had to be repaired before the road could be fully opened safely.”
Investigators have not released the name of the driver or indicated if any charges are pending in the accident. The highway was closed from 12:30 a.m. until almost 8:00 a.m.