An early morning crash on Interstate 20 in Ruston snarled traffic as motorists attempted to get to work and school Wednesday.
A semi rig pulling a double trailer overturned on Interstate 20 between exit 83 (Tarbutton Road) and exit 84 (Tech Drive) about 4:30 a.m. on March 18, blocking both eastbound lanes. Some of the trailers’ boxed cargo was spilled out onto the roadway.
Ruston Police and Fire responded to the scene. The crash involved only the one vehicle and the driver was uninjured, according to RPD Lt. Kayla Loyd.
RPD detectives and command staff assisted patrol officers in directing traffic around the crash as the normally busy Tech Drive/Cooktown Road corridor was overwhelmed by the addition of Interstate traffic.
The Grambling Police Department, Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office, and Louisiana State Police assisted in rerouting the traffic off eastbound I-20 onto the South Service Road at exit 83 and then back onto the Interstate at Tech Drive/Cooktown Road, causing delays for students trying to reach Ruston High School, Ruston Junior High, and Louisiana Tech.
Vehicles trying to avoid the I-20 bottleneck also caused congestion elsewhere in the city.
As of 7:30 a.m., several large tow trucks had reached the scene and were preparing to upright the rig, but police said the process would take hours. The trailers had to be unloaded before tow trucks could upright them.
One eastbound lane was reopened about 11:00 a.m., eliminating the need to divert traffic onto the service road. Interstate 20 was completely reopened to eastbound traffic about 1:40 p.m., according to Lt. Loyd.
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