Partial Closure Of U.S. 54 Expected Until Evening
U.S. 54 North remains partially closed past the intersection with McCombs St. and is expected to remain that way until Thursday evening. Clean-up crews are working to clean up a chemical spill from a rollover wreck Wednesday night.
Police officials told ABC-7, the driver of a tractor-trailer tried passing another vehicle around 11 p.m. when the truck’s load shifted. That caused the driver to lose control, rolling the truck. Police said the driver was taken to University Medical Center with minor injuries.
The wreck caused the truck’s load, what police described as a tar-like substance, to spill onto the road and the median.
“The substance that was being carried did not have any type of toxic qualities that would pose any kind of danger to anyone in the area,” said Javier Sambrano, El Paso Police Department spokesman. “However, it is a tar-type of material, so that could definitely affect the roadway or damage the roadway.”
Police detoured traffic away from the northbound lanes of U.S. 54 at McCombs until after 6 a.m., when clean-up crews arrived to clean up the substance. But the left lane of U.S. 54 is expected to remain closed to traffic until 5 p.m. at the earliest.
