BLAND, Va. — Traffic will likely be slow going through most of Friday evening for motorists heading south on Interstate 77 in Virginia not far from the West Virginia line.
A tractor trailer crashed Frirday morning, one of the busiest travel days of the year, closing both southbound lanes just south of the Big Walker Mountain Tunnel in Wythe County.
The truck spilled its load of building materials. The crash took out a large section of guardrail.
The Virginia Department of Transportation was able to open one southbound lane by 11 a.m. but traffic, most of it Memorial Day holiday weekend traffic, was backed up 10 miles southbound by mid-afternoon. Northbound traffic was not impacted.
The accident scene was cleared at just before 5 p.m.
Virginia State Police had set up a detour at Exit 47 but that was also backed up.