Multiple factors combined to stop NB-15 traffic overnight, lanes back open
Dec 8, 2022, 4:14 PM | Updated: 4:55 pm
Cleanup continued for much of the day on Thursday after a tanker overturned on NB-15 in Bluffdale in winter driving conditions on Wednesday night. (Shelby Lofton/KSL 5 TV)
(Shelby Lofton/KSL 5 TV)
BLUFFDALE, Utah — Slick roads, new snowfall, and vehicles traveling too fast for winter driving conditions combined to cause a multi-car accident and fuel spill Wednesday night on I-15. The accidents shut down northbound traffic for nearly 12 hours.
The Utah Highway Patrol announced at about 4:45 p.m. Thursday that all lanes on northbound I-15 at 14600 South were back open.
All lanes of I-15 northbound at 14600 South are now open. pic.twitter.com/XOhcrXitSs
— Utah Highway Patrol (@UTHighwayPatrol) December 8, 2022
The UHP said an Amazon truck had jackknifed on northbound I-15, and then a passenger car entered the freeway near 14600 South and merged to avoid the jackknifed semi.
Next, a pickup truck traveling faster than the passenger car hit the back of the car. Finally, a semi-truck pulling two tankers filled with crude oil was also traveling too fast for the conditions hit the back of the Amazon semi.
NB 15 is CLOSED at 146th South in Bluffdale. All traffic forced to exit the freeway coming over from Utah County. pic.twitter.com/5awdYo1mZ1
— Heather Kelly (@KSLHeatherKelly) December 8, 2022
“This semi that was hauling this oil overturned its rear trailer which compromised the trailer, and [oil] leaked out onto the highway,” UHP Sgt. Cameron Roden told Utah’s Noon News.
Roden originally said that nearly 1,500 gallons of crude oil spilled, and two lanes were blocked when the semi’s back tanker flipped and became detached.
Complicated cleanup
The number of vehicles along with the hazmat spill meant that cleanup of this accident wouldn’t be easy.
“There are a lot of things we need to do to handle the situation properly as far as the right departments,” Roden said. Those include the health department, environmental agencies, UDOT, and the Utah Highway Patrol.
Not to mention mopping up, removing, and disposing of more than 2,000 gallons of oil that spilled.
NEW INFO on I-15 northbound closure:
⏺crews cleaning up 2-3,000 gallons spilled oil
⏺ UHP aims to open 2 right lanes in 45 min
⏺ fwy to be partially closed until 3:30/4 pm
⏺ UHP says STAY HOME if you can, go slow if you’re out on roads @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/r0XQt4UZfD— Shelby Lofton (@newswithShelby) December 8, 2022
By mid-morning on Thursday, enough of the oil had been cleared to reopen two lanes of northbound traffic.
Two lanes of I-15 are now open northbound at 14600 S. As Crews make progress with the remaining lanes, additional lanes will be opened. pic.twitter.com/NarAnNnQIX
— Utah Highway Patrol (@UTHighwayPatrol) December 8, 2022
Two lanes of northbound traffic were open around 11 a.m. on Thursday and only two lanes remained open as the afternoon commute got underway on Thursday.
Related reading: Some I-15 lanes reopen after hazmat spill in Bluffdale
