Fiery Tanker Crash Damages I-81/US 22/US 322 Stack

[PAHighways]

Parts of Interstate 81 and US 22/US 322 near their interchange outside of Harrisburg remain closed after a tanker hauling diesel fuel crashed and caught fire this morning on the I-81 northbound ramp to US 22/US 322 westbound.  The fire damaged the bridge that carries US 22 south into Harrisburg which will have to be replaced as well as I-81.  The latter will not reopen until that damaged span is removed which should take place by next week.

PennDOT Press Release
WHP-TV WHTM-TV WGAL-TV WPMT-TV

[cpzilliacus]

Bad, bad place for such a wreck (but there's never a "good" place, is there?).  Pretty remarkable that there was no loss of life.

Dave Statter of the Statter911 fire/EMS site has video (some of which duplicates what you have linked above) and images of the incident here.

[jpi]

Agreed, this will be a rush hour nightmare for some time, 581 and 83 will be running PRETTY HEAVY! I will be up in the area in about 2 weeks, looks like I will be running 11/15 to in laws instead of 22/322.

[PAHighways]

Governor Corbett Signs Disaster Emergency Proclamation After Tanker Fire Closes Major Interstate Outside Harrisburg

I-81/Route 322 fire damage: What it looks like from the air

[Mergingtraffic]

As far away as CT, the state DOT has VMS signs along I-84 in the western part of the state saying
"I-81 Closed Harrisburg Penn.  Exits 70-59"

[KEVIN_224]

No offense, but couldn't that wait until one was on I-84 in Pennsylvania itself? There's like 53 miles of that road in the Keystone state before you'd even reach I-81 in Dunmore.

[NE2]

You might detour via I-684 or I-86...

[jeffandnicole]

No offense, but couldn't that wait until one was on I-84 in Pennsylvania itself? There's like 53 miles of that road in the Keystone state before you'd even reach I-81 in Dunmore.

Generally, the more notice that can be given, the better traffic can be diverted to multiple routes.  If you think you can detour everyone onto one or two roads, you wind up with a huge bottleneck, and a bunch of people wondering why signs weren't posted earlier.

[Interstatefan78]

This is also heard all the way in Allentown, PA and Phillipsburg, NJ and WAEB 790AM traffic reports did indeed give out heavy delays on I-81 from exit 89-70, and I think WAEB 790 AM did give I-83 and PA-581 as an alternative to I-81 which is closed from exit 70 to the PA-581 jct

[roadman65]

US 22 from Paxtonia, Colonial Park, and Progress must be a nightmare!  Then you have the one lane I-83 through the US 322/ I-283 interchange that will create a bottleneck for sure. 

[mtantillo]

They are trying to split traffic at I-83/I-283. Some going 83 to 581, other traffic going 283 to the Turnpike, which is free between Harrisburg East and Carlisle.

They had a message on I-270 in Maryland. But I stupidly did not heed the warning, because the sign simply said I-81 north closed at Exit 59. Since I was only going to be on I-81 south for 3 miles, I didn't think anything of it, until I was trapped in gridlock and realized the "crash" they were talking about was a lot more serious than I had thought. I-81 is actually open south of Exit 70, but only for those coming from I-83 (following 322).  So none of my route was actually closed, just got caught in detour traffic (didn't help that hardly anyone detouring to the turnpike had E-ZPass).

[sbeaver44]

Separately on Thursday there was another incident on the Turnpike EB near the I-83 interchange.  So all the traffic that was using the turnpike to avoid 581/83, which had itself become a mess, was stopped for a good bit.  What a mess this all is.

581 continues to be heavy at some times of the day, but thankfully when I go to work it's pretty good.

[cpzilliacus]

Some going 83 to 581, other traffic going 283 to the Turnpike, which is free between Harrisburg East and Carlisle.

Wouldn't it  be nice if there wasn't a breezewood at Carlisle between the Turnpike and I-81?

[Interstatefan78]

Some going 83 to 581, other traffic going 283 to the Turnpike, which is free between Harrisburg East and Carlisle.

Wouldn't it  be nice if there wasn't a breezewood at Carlisle between the Turnpike and I-81?

True and penn pike didn't build an I-76/I-81 interchange because I-81 connects with I-476 (Pennsylvania Turnpike NE extension). This accident can be seen on I-78 West this Sunday and the vms by exit 71 says I-81 closed at exit 67" even though the distance from PA-33/I-78 to Harrisburg is 94 miles

[cpzilliacus]

Some going 83 to 581, other traffic going 283 to the Turnpike, which is free between Harrisburg East and Carlisle.

Wouldn't it  be nice if there wasn't a breezewood at Carlisle between the Turnpike and I-81?

True and penn pike didn't build an I-76/I-81 interchange because I-81 connects with I-476 (Pennsylvania Turnpike NE extension).

Though there is a non-breezewood connection between 81 and 476 at the extreme northern end of 476, though the curves are pretty sharp.

[Mr_Northside]

Wouldn't it  be nice if there wasn't a breezewood at Carlisle between the Turnpike and I-81?

True and penn pike didn't build an I-76/I-81 interchange because I-81 connects with I-476 (Pennsylvania Turnpike NE extension).

Is there actually any documentation to back that up? 
Numerous threads here discuss how various rules/laws over the years helped create various "Breezewoods" between non-toll & toll freeways... Which help explain Carlisle....
I have my doubts, though, that the fact that I-81 connects to I-476, about 140 miles away, has anything to do with the lack of a direct connection between I-81 & I-76.  I doubt that anyone would drive the extra 85 miles or so using I-476 <-> I-276 <-> I-76 to avoid some traffic lights on US-11, and I doubt the PTC believes either - at least to the point of it being a reason to keep the current situation as-is.

[PHLBOS]

Wouldn't it  be nice if there wasn't a breezewood at Carlisle between the Turnpike and I-81?

True and penn pike didn't build an I-76/I-81 interchange because I-81 connects with I-476 (Pennsylvania Turnpike NE extension).

Is there actually any documentation to back that up? 
Numerous threads here discuss how various rules/laws over the years helped create various "Breezewoods" between non-toll & toll freeways... Which help explain Carlisle....
I have my doubts, though, that the fact that I-81 connects to I-476, about 140 miles away, has anything to do with the lack of a direct connection between I-81 & I-76.  I doubt that anyone would drive the extra 85 miles or so using I-476 <-> I-276 <-> I-76 to avoid some traffic lights on US-11, and I doubt the PTC believes either - at least to the point of it being a reason to keep the current situation as-is.

Mr_Northside, I think cpzilliacus was being somewhat facetious in his previous post regarding I-81/476 interchange being an alternative to the Carlisle Breezewood. 

If memory serves, the Carlisle interchange is one of the original Turnpike interchanges that's been around since Oct. 1940.  Long before the NE Extension (I-476) and I-81 were even built. 

Additionally, the I-81/476 interchange was built just beyond the Clarks Summit mainline toll plaza so the jurisdiction between PTC and PennDOT (in terms of responsibility & ownership) might indeed change hands at that location as well.  If that's the case, it may be why a direct interchange between I-81 & I-476 was constructed from the get-go.

[PAHighways]

If memory serves, the Carlisle interchange is one of the original Turnpike interchanges that's been around since Oct. 1940.  Long before the NE Extension (I-476) and I-81 were even built.

The current Carlisle Interchange was originally the Middlesex Interchange, which was a partial interchange facilitating traffic to and from Harrisburg via US 11 with a third ramp for southbound US 11 heading towards Carlisle.  The original Carlisle Interchange was just north of the borough.  I have pictures of the area and maps of the original interchange configurations at my Turnpike page.

[PAHighways]

PennDOT Prepares to Demolish Ramp from Northbound I-81 to Westbound Route 22/322

[roadman]

I-81 transitional re-opening.

It's a couple of days old, but still may be of interest to some

http://www.paturnpike.com/press/2013/20130513173946.htm

[PAHighways]

PennDOT Opens Bids for Eastbound Route 22 Bridge over Interstate 81

[PAHighways]

The new bridge for eastbound US 22 into Harrisburg has been completed:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/11/one_lane_of_route_22_bridge_re.html.

[cpzilliacus]

The new bridge for eastbound US 22 into Harrisburg has been completed:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/11/one_lane_of_route_22_bridge_re.html.

This is good news. 

I hope the owner(s) of that tank truck had a lot of insurance, as it would be very unfair if PennDOT had to fund this out of its own "pocket."

[SteveG1988]

The new bridge for eastbound US 22 into Harrisburg has been completed:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/11/one_lane_of_route_22_bridge_re.html.

This is good news. 

I hope the owner(s) of that tank truck had a lot of insurance, as it would be very unfair if PennDOT had to fund this out of its own "pocket."

Any fuel hauler has to have insurance for this sort of thing, that is why the company i worked for stopped doing their own fuel and laid me off, basically the tanker truck was costing more than it was worth in terms of insurance, and out of pocket expensve if it were to tip over and spill. EPA fines ontop of cleanup fees ontop of that. I drove the truck that fueled stuff in the yard where i worked so i don't know the exact ammounts of money it was costing, but it was enough to where paying more for it and having someone else do it was saving money in the long run