UPDATE 4:45 p.m. Tuesday — Both northbound lanes of the West Virginia Turnpike, Interstate 77, between the Mossy and Mahan exits in Fayette County, reopened at just before 4:45 p.m. Tuesday.
The highway had been blocked for nearly 14 hours. The reopening almost immediately relieved congestion on U.S. Route 19 from Beckley to Interstate 79 near Sutton. Some motorists reported it taking an hour to go eight miles in the hours before the Turnpike wreck was cleared.
MOSSY, W.Va. — An accident in the northbound lanes of Interstate 77, the West Virginia Turnpike, early Tuesday morning caused major traffic headaches. The semi hauling automotive batteries overturned in the northbound lanes between Mossy and Mahan creating a massive problem.
“It rolled over and was hauling batteries,” said Parkways Authority General Manager Gregg Barr. “Some of the batteries were ejected from the trailer onto the highway and burst. Some of the battery acid and corrosive material was running across the road.”
When crews finally reached the scene it was determined the situation was bigger than the normal Turnpike emergency crews would be able to handle and a haz-mat team was dispatched to clean up the lost cargo. However, in the meantime, traffic was backing up and the decision was made to close the northbound lanes and detour traffic onto U.S. 19 at Beckley north to Sutton where those traveling to Charleston could take I-79.
“We had plans in place,” said Barr. “We just implemented the plan. It’s detour plan A.”
While the detour took care of the oncoming traffic from south of Beckley, the next step was to turn around those already stranded in the closed area.
“Traffic was starting to build up and back up for quite a ways,” said Barr. “We had to actually open up one of those new gates in the median wall to turn traffic around.”
The process of turning around the stalled tragic took most of the morning and slowed the southbound motorists as those traveling north headed back to Beckley for the detour. Barr said some on U.S. 19 attempted to take short cuts along Route 16, Route 61, and U.S. Route 60. He advised against such a plan, particularly for large semis who may not be prepared for the narrow and winding roads.
A hazardous material team is now on scene applying fly ash to the spill to neutralize the acid. Another truck is headed to the scene to off load the remaining batteries and caustic debris to be hauled away. Crews will have to broom the pavement before traffic will be able to resume on the highway.
“I’m saying it’s probably going to be another two to four hours before we’re totally done,” said Barr.
The driver was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. It’s unclear where the driver was from or who owned the truck. The trailer had Illinois license plates, but Barr added that wasn’t a good indicator of where the load may have originated or where it may have been headed.
The detour will probably add an hour and a half to motorists moving through West Virginia to Charleston or points north.