LA PORTE – A 24-hour traffic nightmare is finally over. On Tuesday afternoon, an 18-wheeler carrying propane plunged off the overpass on Highway 225 near Highway 146. Crews have been working non-stop trying to clean up the mess and the truck was cleared and the interchange reopened Wednesday afternoon.
After more than 12 hours of burning hundreds of thousands of gallons of propane, crews were finally able to break down the flares and pack up.
"They are moving the tank as we speak, they are going to try to get it up on a trailer and as soon as we get that tank out from underneath the flyover we are going to open up the main lanes," said Assistant ChiefSteve Deardorff with the La Porte Police Department.
Good news for drivers who dealt with a grueling commute to work Wednesday morning.
"There is never traffic, it's never congested over here. It has taken me a little longer to get to work this morning, let's put it that way," said Jennifer Boyd.
Highway 225 had been shut down for 24 hours because HazMat teams had to drain and then burn the 5,000 gallons of propane from the 18-wheeler involved in the crash.
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Investigators say the driver of the truck lost control Tuesday afternoon and plummeted over an overpass, but the tank never ruptured.
"It is this flyover right here. He failed to negotiate the curve and hit the left wall and went over the edge," said Asst. Chief Deardorff.
But now that the scene is cleared and the roads are open, there is still more work to be done.
"Our accident investigator will need to look at the cab of the truck, they have already photo'd some of the cab. There will be some more information they need to get. They have already been on the flyover, southbound 146 to westbound 146 and got the information they needed from up there and they will get the information they need to complete the accident investigation," Asst. Chief Deardorff said.
There were two people inside the truck when it crashed -- the driver and a passenger. Both were rushed to local hospitals. Officials tell us the driver is in critical condition and the passenger is stable.
According to city officials, a few nearby businesses were evacuated out of precaution.