WILLIAMSPORT, MD : Crashes clog Md. I-81, nearby roads for hours on April, Thursday 13th 2017

Traffic on Interstate 81 and U.S. 11 was finally flowing again Thursday evening after a long day of congestion caused by two crashes on the busy interstate near Williamsport, according to Maryland State Police.

But police said they were expecting the backups to resume later Thursday night when nighttime construction started on a Potomac River bridge project along the interstate, as well as on other area road projects.

The gridlock started about 6 a.m., when a tractor-trailer hauling plywood overturned near the 2-mile marker of I-81 near Williamsport, state police Cpl. Richard Kulina said.

The truck driver was thrown from the vehicle. He was taken to Meritus Medical Center near Hagerstown, where he was assessed and released, Kulina said.

The crash closed one lane of northbound Interstate 81 until about 2 p.m., causing hours of backups and traffic delays, police said.

Shortly before noon, northbound traffic was backed up to near the Queen Street interchange in Martinsburg, W.Va.

Stopped traffic also was reported on U.S. 11, which also runs from West Virginia into Maryland.

A second crash contributed to the snarled traffic, police said.

The second wreck occurred when a truck and another vehicle collided near the site of the first crash. The damage was relatively minor, and there were no injuries, Kulina said.

But the collision further delayed traffic, he said.

At 4:50 p.m., traffic maps showed slow or stalled traffic extending from the Halfway area just outside Hagerstown to near the Spring Mills area of West Virginia.

Source :
Crashes clog Md. I-81, nearby roads for hours