MAUMEE, Ohio — Tuesday morning's drive on I-475 near Maumee was rough after a tractor-trailer fire closed lanes and clogged traffic for more than six hours.
The two-lane interstate was reduced to one lane when an Amazon truck hit a wall and caught fire just before 6 a.m. in the construction zone near the Dussel-Salisbury exit, police said.
Both lanes reopened at 12:45 p.m. The driver of the Amazon truck was taken to the hospital. Information on the driver's condition was not available Tuesday.
An ODOT spokesperson said no construction workers were hurt because the crash happened before work was scheduled to begin.
Authorities also said a piece of technology in the construction zone may have helped the driver.
"The crash attenuator was hit and did absorb some of that shock, if you will, from the vehicle," said Kelsie Hoagland, ODOT public information officer. "And then it also hit to segments of barrier wall and those two segments of barrier wall needed to be replaced along with the attenuator."
Hoagland also said traffic was delayed due to environmental concerns.
"There was a fuel spill that was associated with the vehicle, so we had to get the Ohio EPA consultation out on site and make sure we did clean up all of the fuel spill that did occur," she said.
Now ODOT is stressing the importance of following speed limits in construction zones.
"In all construction zones it's important to abide by the speed limit," Hoagland said. "I don't know that speed was any type of a factor in this particular crash but within the construction zone us all maintaining our speed and abiding by the posted speed limit helps us make sure that we get through the construction zone safely and helps prohibit any of those future crash delays in the future."
More on WTOL: