Traffic delays for hours plagued motorists in Delta as police and clean-up crews worked to clear three vehicle incidents Monday.
The first incident, located at River Road and 96th Street, west of the Highway interchange, was called into the Delta Traffic Unit around 11:22 a.m.
According to police, the driver of a semi-truck lost control in an S-curve and the truck rolled onto the driver’s side. The truck’s diesel tanks were ruptured, causing a spill. Fortunately the driver was not injured. The driver was issued a violation ticket for driving without due care. Traffic was initially diverted onto Highway 17 towards 80th St.
The scene was cleared just before 6 p.m.
The second incident, along 80th St. at Highway 17, was called into police at 12:29 p.m.
A flat deck truck carrying extremely dense, large and heavy coils of steel lost one of the coils while turning from Highway 17 to 80th St. into Tilbury. A crane was required to lift the very heavy roll off the roadway. Police are still investigating. The scene was cleared around 6:51 p.m.
According to police, traffic on Highway 17 was generally unobstructed during this event, except for the crane, but slowed down due to the curiosity of drivers.
The third incident occurred east of 80th St. at Highway 17 at 2:50 p.m.
In this incident, a vehicle u-turned in this area, into opposing highway traffic, which caused yet another disruption to traffic in the area.
“We are very thankful that there were no injuries during these events,” said DPD public affairs coordinator Cris Leykauf. “As our traffic officers noted via Twitter during the second instance, it is extremely fortunate that the steel coil merely fell on the roadway and not onto another vehicle, or pedestrian. We also want to thank (most) drivers for their patience during these events, as we realize they significantly impacted the flow of traffic on Highway 17 particularly. However, with instances involving heavy loads, spilled fuel and large trucks, it can take some time to safely clear the roadway.”
