CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Hundreds of motorists on Interstate 64 in Charleston had their trips delayed Tuesday when a truck driver with an extra-wide load thought he could make it through the contraflow lane that’s part of an ongoing road construction project.
The rig got stuck in the westbound near the Oakwood Road exit at midmorning. It was freed from the concrete barriers on either side more than two hours later, but during that time traffic backed up both directions.
Police and state Division of Highways crews had to stop eastbound traffic too and and it backed up to near Dunbar as motorists were being detoured onto U.S. Route 119.
With the truck freed, traffic was moving in both directions again before 1 p.m. The driver was ticketed.
The construction project that created the contraflow lane is scheduled to continue for several more weeks.