Tractor-trailer accident on Turnpike affects traffic
CRANBERRY TWP — An early morning tractor-trailer accident has shut down one lane of the Turnpike in Cranberry Township.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, at about 5 a.m. Tuesday, a single YRC-owned tractor-trailer, carrying two tractors, left the roadway and hit a pier of the bridge carrying Freedom Road over the interstate, causing damage to the back of the rear trailer.
The trailer was carrying boxed packages of a liquid food substance, PennDOT officials said, and the contents spilled onto the roadway. Even though crews were called to attend to the mess, it was not considered a hazardous or corrosive material.
A tow-truck crew was continuing the cleanup at around 11:30 a.m., and officials expect the road to be opened by mid-afternoon at the latest, barring any major complications.
The collision with the bridge did not cause any structural deformities, PennDOT said, and the specific pier the tractor-trailer hit is scheduled to be demolished as part of the Freedom Road bridge project.