A single vehicle crash slowed eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 to a near standstill for several hours during the morning commute Wednesday, causing congestion that backed up several miles of northbound traffic on state Route 36.
A pickup truck was pulling a trailer eastbound on I-80 in the area of mile marker 101 when it began to drift back and forth, according to the Utah Highway Patrol. The truck and trailer then began to weave before both flipped, blocking both lanes of the freeway around 7:30 a.m.
For about 30 minutes after the accident, eastbound traffic was rerouted to the shoulder of I-80 while a tow truck traveled to the scene, according to UHP. A single lane was opened after the tow truck arrived, though both lanes did not open until around 10:30 a.m.
Due to the lane restriction, northbound traffic headed to I-80 was backed up on SR-36 as far as the intersection with state Route 138.
The driver of the pickup truck, which was carting a semitrailer frame on the trailer, is not believed to have been impaired or distracted, according to UHP. The accident was likely caused by the distribution of the load on the trailer and no citations were issued, UHP said.
Once the accident was cleared, the UDOT Traffic Twitter account notified travelers of congestion until about noon. While crews cleared the scene on I-80, a second minor accident was reported on SR-36 at the Saddleback Boulevard intersection at 10:31 a.m.
The accident was the second time this year commuting traffic through Tooele County via I-80 was heavily affected by a lane closure. On Jan. 30, evening commuters faced delays up to three hours after UDOT closed a lane on the Exit 99 overpass for pothole repair.