A portion of Interstate 75 in Detroit was closed Wednesday morning as crews worked to repair a beam damaged by a too-tall semi truck.
The incident that damaged the bridge occurred on Tuesday, March 20th at about 1:00 p.m. on I-75 at the Warren Avenue bridge at Interstate 95 in Detroit, Michigan.
According to Fox 2 Detroit, the semi truck was too tall for the I-95 overpass and struck one of the 32 beams supporting the 12 year old bridge before hitting the low hanging Toledo/Civic Center sign.
No one was injured in the accident, but officials have determined that the bridge is in need of repairs, forcing the closure of southbound I-75 at the Warren Avenue bridge at 6:20 a.m. Wednesday morning. As of Wednesday at noon, there was still no estimated time of reopening.
SB 75 from 94 to Warren has only left shoulder open due to crash into bridge which slammed into 1 of 32 beams. Warren bridge is fine & open to traffic. Crews removing sign also damaged. Only one lane open into evening. Wings game traffic should use SB M10 or SB M1/Woodward. pic.twitter.com/UeAhbKNpUo
— MDOT – Metro Detroit (@MDOT_MetroDet) March 20, 2018
“We don’t know how late in the afternoon this is going to go. So, whether or not it’s going to affect the afternoon rush, we won’t know until it gets going,” said Michigan Department of Transportation spokesperson Diane Cross.
The Warren Avenue bridge remains open, but Cross says that the traffic backups created by the closure are expected to be “tremendous, so drivers are strongly urged to avoid the area.”
“We would never pick a time like this if we could,” Cross continued.
“We do everything to never do construction unless something is an emergency. Bridges — you don’t want to risk that, and you certainly don’t want traffic driving underneath it,” she said.
Some alternate routes suggested by MDOT include US Route 10, US Route 1 to Woodward, Gratiot, and Grand River.
