Traffic came to a standstill for more than four and half hours on the Schuylkill Expressway Tuesday after a tanker truck, dump truck and cars collided near the Conshohocken Curve leaving fuel and rocks on the roadway.
The crash happened around 11:30 a.m. on the eastbound lanes of I-76 around mile marker 335 -- past the exit for Blue Route. It involved a tanker truck, dump truck and a car.
The road wouldn't reopen until around 4:05 p.m.
An initial investigation showed that the big rig was slowing down in the left lane when it was clipped by the dump truck, according to officials.
Substances from both the tanker and dump truck spilled onto the roadway. A PennDOT spokesman said that a load of modified stone from the dump truck had spilled onto the roadway and mixed with about 100 gallons of fuel that wound up on highway.
No one was hurt, according to authorities.
All traffic was stopped eastbound. One lane also appeared to be closed in the westbound lanes as crews worked on the scene as traffic backed up for miles in both directions.
Motorist stuck in the back up were seen leaving their cars and seeking shade under trees along the roadway.
By 2:30 p.m. the eastbound lanes remained closed as crews worked to clean the spill. A little bit earlier NBC10 cameras captured cars going the wrong way on eastbound I-76 so that they could get off the roadway. All but a few tractor-trailers that couldn't turn around eventually got off the roadway.
The dump truck is owned by Mount Materials LLC out of Fairless Hills, Pa. They had no comment about the wreck.
All westbound traffic eventually reopened by 2:30 p.m. At 4 p.m. police were still directing cars off the highway at the Conshy exit but soon after they opened the roadway.
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