Eastbound I-94 closed near U.S. 23 after semi truck hits transformer
Crews work to clean up the semi truck accident on eastbound I-94 Tuesday afternoon.
Daniel Brenner | AnnArbor.com
1:26 p.m. update: There was no hazardous material leaking from the transformer, according to police. The freeway will be closed until between 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Eastbound Interstate 94 is being closed down near U.S. 23 after a semi truck hit a transformer that fell off a different truck and the transformer began leaking potentially hazardous fluid.
Michigan State Police Sgt. Mark Thompson said at 12:45 p.m. Tuesday a semi truck was eastbound on I-94 when the transformer fell off the trailer. Thompson said a second semi truck struck the transformer.
Thompson said the transformer is leaking a liquid that could be hazardous and the Washtenaw County Hazardous Materials Team was being called in. At 1:26 p.m., Thompson notified media the crash did not contain any hazardous materials.
Traffic was being routed either southbound on U.S. 23, where drivers can take the Michigan Avenue exit east and re-enter I-94 near Ypsilanti or go northbound on U.S. 23 to M-14 east, Thompson said.
No other information about the incident was available Tuesday afternoon. No injuries were reported as of 1 p.m. Tuesday.
Thompson said the freeway may reopen between 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
Fat Bill
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 3:43 a.m.
Let's not forget that a truck hit the transformer...trucks carry up to two hundred gallons of diesel as well as a wide variety of other substances which can be hazardous to people and the environment.
Ann English
Tue, Apr 23, 2013 : 10:10 p.m.
You say that traffic was re-routed. I'm assuming it was re-routed by police. You have the pin on the 270-degree entrance ramp onto eastbound I-94 from southbound US-23. Exiting from the southbound lanes to the westbound lanes wasn't hard at 1:40, but I couldn't see the accident at all, just the backed-up traffic wishing to turn east onto I-94. It was backed up west of State Street, where I got off. Police had closed the eastbound ramps for both northbound and southbound traffic on State Street by 2:00. It's good to know that not every freeway ramp closed by police means that someone was badly hurt or killed on that freeway that hour.
440RC
Tue, Apr 23, 2013 : 8:29 p.m.
jcj, your 1st responder orange juice training update: the placard on the truck, in the picture above, is 3432; polychlorinated biphenyls, aka PCB's. Guide number 171 in the Emergency Response Guidebook of orange juice spills and leaks. The only way to get rid of PCB contaminated equipment is to haul it away. Unfortunatley after 1979 it didn't just vanish.
Ann English
Tue, Apr 23, 2013 : 9:57 p.m.
440RC, Apparently you're telling us that it was the truck that lost its load that is pictured above, not the one that hit the transformer. Until your comments, it was easy to conclude that the truck that hit the transformer is the one pictured. As long as the one hauling the transformer didn't just keep right on going, oblivious to what just happened behind him.
YpsiLivin
Tue, Apr 23, 2013 : 9:55 p.m.
"... trying to dry out a roll of toilet paper..." Wow! And I thought I was cheap...
justcurious
Tue, Apr 23, 2013 : 8:51 p.m.
I once caught an old microwave on fire trying to dry out a roll of toilet paper. Talk about pcb exposure! I guess that explains everything...
jcj
Tue, Apr 23, 2013 : 7:25 p.m.
It is too bad that every time a quart of orange juice is spilled the roads have to be shut down. I know this was not orange juice but it was no more dangerous than orange juice. PCB was banned in 1979 in the US. A little training for first responders. Or up to date training.
jcj
Tue, Apr 23, 2013 : 9:02 p.m.
Ignaz I suspect the road in this case would have been closed for a time even if it had been something the size of a transformer with no chance for contamination. But it has gotten to the point where roads are closed if there is a quart of oil spilled.
Ignatz
Tue, Apr 23, 2013 : 7:42 p.m.
The age of the transformer was not mentioned, so it could have predated 1979. I suspect that the real reason for the closure was that another truck hit it.
Cherie
Tue, Apr 23, 2013 : 6 p.m.
"Michigan State Police Sgt. Mark Thompson said at 12:45 p.m. Tuesday a semi truck was eastbound on I-94 when the transformer fell off the trailer." This statement sounds like the accident happened at 12:45pm, which is amazing, because the freeway has been closed since at least noon from an accident that looks just like this one.
Pufferish
Tue, Apr 23, 2013 : 6:58 p.m.
You're correct, this happened at ~11:45am.
Phil
Tue, Apr 23, 2013 : 5:56 p.m.
You'd think someone would know that transformers are filled with harmless mineral oil.
Silly Sally
Tue, Apr 23, 2013 : 10:31 p.m.
Older transformers were filled with PCBs.
djm12652
Tue, Apr 23, 2013 : 7:31 p.m.
Maybe it's old school transformer, not like Revenge of the Fallen.... : 0
Craig Lounsbury
Tue, Apr 23, 2013 : 5:56 p.m.
somebody didn't have their load secured.
Pufferish
Tue, Apr 23, 2013 : 6:56 p.m.
Hate to speculate, but I was there when this happened... and the way the load slid on/off the back of that truck, Iit certainly appeared this was the case.
treetowncartel
Tue, Apr 23, 2013 : 6:22 p.m.
You know the "Snowman" would never let that happen, even when he had a long way to go and a short time to get there..
Eep
Tue, Apr 23, 2013 : 5:55 p.m.
Giant alien robots should not be allowed to run loose on our roads; it only leads to trouble.