Truck accidents continue to hit I-90
A truck carrying Energy Star drinks to Butte slid off the road near St. Regis on I90, Mar. 1. (Photo courtesy of Tim Read)
A flatbed truck hauling cable lost control near St. Regis and knocked cement barriers into the eastbound lane on March 1. The westbound hit the barriers on March 1 near St. Regis. (Photos courtesy of Tim Read)
Highway workers try to divert traffic away from several cement barriers which were pushed into the eastbound lane on I-90 during a March 1 accident.
The Montana Highway Patrol reported 34 incidents between Feb. 26 and Mar.5, as snow and icy conditions continue to sweep down Interstate 90 in Mineral County. Several incidents occurred Sunday, Feb. 26, and Saturday, Mar. 4 where higher elevations were hit with heavy snow fall. Especially hazardous conditions were reported on Lookout Pass.
There were several semi-trucks carrying food involved in incidents. These required Mineral County Sanitarian, Tim Read, to respond for public safety reasons. He reported at a recent commissioners meeting that, on Mar. 1, a black flatbed truck hauling cables lost control in the westbound lane near mile marker 30, past St. Regis around 9 a.m. The truck knocked out several concrete barrier dividers, pushing them into the eastbound lane.
One truck managed to maneuver around the barriers, but another truck slid off the road. A white AMA Logistics truck carrying Energy Star drinks to Butte went off the road and was tilting at a 90-degree angle. It didn’t tip over, and the wrecker managed to pull it onto the road without further incident.
Another incident occurred Feb. 14 when a Lawrence Transportation Company truck hauling 38,000 pounds of Hormel Bacon went off the road. The driver was taken to the hospital, but there is no update on the extent of his injuries.
Frozen chicken was the victim in another incident which took place near Alberton Feb. 26 near mile marker 26. The truck carrying a variety of frozen chicken products spilled on the Missoula-Mineral County line. The accident was in Missoula County, but boxes of chicken spilled over into Mineral County. The truck was towed into Missoula and Read was told they would come back and clean up the boxes later. Roman Zylawy was on his way into Alberton and noticed several cars parked along the road, where people were loading boxes into their trunks. Read said black ice and snow were the main cause for most of the accidents.