Semi Crashes On I-44 At Peoria Closing Westbound Lanes

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, Oklahoma -- Westbound traffic is moving again on I-44 in Tulsa after it was shut down early Wednesday morning for over four hours because of semi tractor trailer crash.

A semi crashed into a concrete barrier east of the Peoria bridge just after 1:45 a.m.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says the semi was headed west on I-44 when the truck drifted outside its lane and crashed into the barrier.

The impact broke off a good sized chunk of the concrete barrier and knocked some pieces of concrete onto the Peoria bridge.  The driver was finally able to stop his rig after hitting a guardrail just west of the bridge.

The semi's fuel tank ruptured contaminating soil near the bridge. The soil will have to be dug up and removed by a backhoe.

There were no injuries.

"Drift off a little bit and you're going to clip these walls out here, and again like I said the construction changes from day to day. So you come through this area, the I-44 construction zone, you just need to be aware," said OHP trooper Darrick Eades.

The inside lane was re-opened to traffic at 6:15 a.m. and the outside lane was re-opened at 8:42 a.m. after Department of Transportation crews made repairs to a section of the bridge guardrail which was damaged in the crash.