Return From Russia

After spending 2 weeks touring Russia, and losing only 1 small camera (with how many pictures, Mom?), the bus carrying Mom and several other expedition members, and my 2 sisters and 1 nephew, were delayed by a major traffic shutdown of I-95 south of Fredericksburg VA for several hours.

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Tractor-Trailer Accident Shuts Down I-95

Associated Press
Thursday, July 7, 2005; 7:45 a.m.

A crash involving three tractor-trailers and a
chemical spill has closed Interstate 95 south of
Fredericksburg this morning.

Sgt. F.L. Tyler, spokesperson for the Va. State
Police, said the accident occured at 1 a.m. between
Massaponax and Thornburg and one of the
tractor-trailers spilled a chemical onto the roadway.

Hazmat officials are on the scene and two northbound
lanes were open after 7 a.m., but Tyler said the
southbound lanes would likely be closed for several
more hours.

Traffic is being re-routed onto Route 1 at mile-marker
122 and back to I-95 southbound at mile-marker 118 at
the Thornburg exit.

Tyler said police are asking drivers to be patient and
said they should look for alternate routes and avoid
I-95 and Route 1 for several hours.

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Deadly I-95 crash creates traffic snarl
Three-truck wreck, a chemical spill require both sides
to be closed

BY KIRAN KRISHNAMURTHY
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Jul 8, 2005


HATLEY MASON/RTD
HATLEY MASON/RTD

FREDERICKSBURG - Interstate 95 was shut down in both
directions near Fredericksburg yesterday after a
three-truck crash that resulted in a chemical spill
and one death.

Southbound motorists reported travel delays of four or
more hours yesterday afternoon and evening. Some
motorists caught in the backup were seen toting
gasoline canisters along the roadside. Truckers idled
their rigs along exit ramps and waited.

Two northbound lanes had reopened by 7 a.m., several
hours after the 1 a.m. crash, but all southbound lanes
at mile marker 122 in Spotsylvania County were
expected to be closed until midnight - almost a full
24 hours.

Highway crews began removing contaminated asphalt and
repaving a 200-yard section of the interstate at 7
p.m., after hazardous materials and accident
investigation teams finished their work, said Ryan
Hall, a Virginia Department of Transportation
spokesman.

The repaving was required by the state Department of
Environ- mental Quality after the chemical, a
fungicide, penetrated the roadway, state
transportation officials said. State police said three
to five 275-gallon containers had ruptured.

Just one of the southbound lanes was expected to
reopen around midnight, with the other two reopening
by morning rush hour, Hall said. The third northbound
lane had reopened by 8 p.m.

Click Here.

Traffic was detoured yesterday onto U.S. 1 and 301,
both of which quickly became choked, VDOT spokeswoman
Tina Bundy said. "Everything is a parking lot."

Last night during rush hour, southbound traffic was
backed up 26 miles into Prince William County.

Virginia State Police said the accident occurred when
the first two trucks were approaching a highway-paving
project and were either slowed or stopped and the
third truck, carrying the chemical, crashed into the
second, causing a chain-reaction crash into the first
truck.

Police confirmed there was one fatality, the driver of
the truck hauling the fungicide. The driver, a
41-year-old male, was from out of state, but police
did not identify him.

The drivers of the other two trucks were treated at
local hospitals and released.

At least two state troopers were taken to Mary
Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg for
decontamination, said Virginia State Police Sgt. F.L.
Tyler. He said the troopers were treated and released.

Bundy said some VDOT employees also underwent
decontamination.

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According to my one sister who was driving the bus, they may have well missed being actively involved in the accident by as little as 10 minutes, as they made a brief rest stop in Fredericksburg.