PennDOT announced planned bridge work on Interstate 81 over the George N. Wade Memorial Bridge, scheduled to start Sept. 9. Crews will be doing a routine inspection of the bridge between Dauphin and Cumberland counties. Inspection crews will start in the northbound lanes on Sept. 9 and run through Sept. 13, PennDOT said. the right northbound lane of 81 on the bridge will be closed on Sunday from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. The lane closure will restrict traffic to two lanes. Monday through Thursday, the right lane will be closed from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m., PennDOT said. The following week, the inspection team will begin on southbound lanes working by closing the right southbound from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 16. That Monday through Thursday, Sept. 20, the right southbound lane will be closed from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. PennDOT asks motorists to be alert to the inspection work and obey the work zone signs. Slow down when approaching and driving through the work area, for the safety of … [Read more...] about George N. Wade Bridge work to affect Interstate 81 traffic over next two weeks
Interstate 81 traffic
A fireball over Interstate-81: The 2013 tanker truck fire
Five years ago today - May 9, 2013 - the central Pennsylvania morning commute ground to gridlock when a tanker truck overturned on the Interstate-81 northbound ramp to Route 322 west in Susquehanna Township. After overturning the tanker exploded into flames that seriously damaged the ramp and the one above it resulting in the area being closed to traffic for seven months. It also caused environmental damage with about 2,000 gallons of diesel fuel leaking into Paxton Creek and Wildwood Lake. The cost of the repairs was $12,434,537. The truck was owned by Tameric Enterprises of Carlisle. The driver, Thomas Uecker, 55, of Dover, who reportedly escaped the accident with minor burns, pleaded guilty in July 2014 to three summary charges of disregarding traffic lanes, driving at a safe speed and accidents/overturned vehicles. He paid fines and costs totaling about $800, court records state. Uecker also pleaded guilty in January 2015 to 11 counts of unlawful taking or possession of … [Read more...] about A fireball over Interstate-81: The 2013 tanker truck fire
Drivers identified from morning crash on Interstate 81 in Cumberland County
A West Virginia man rescued from a tractor-trailer after a rush-hour accident on Interstate 81 near Carlisle Monday was said to be in stable condition this afternoon and is expected to survive his injuries. Donald Charlton, 64, of Martinsburg, was rushed to an area hospital after being extricated from his truck cab by local fire and rescue crews. Pennsylvania State Police said Charlton caused the 8:28 a.m. crash when his northbound truck rear-ended a flatbed trailer driven by Deandra Williams, 52, of Rocky, Okla. just south of the highway's College Street intersection (Exit 45). Williams was slowing down at the time due to some sort of back-up in traffic ahead of her, police said, when Charlton's struck struck her trailer from behind. The impact caused Williams' load of metal sign poles to scatter across the highway and into the median. Charlton, meanwhile, was trapped in his truck cab for more than hour. Traffic was still being pulled off I-81 North at the Allen Road, Exit 43 … [Read more...] about Drivers identified from morning crash on Interstate 81 in Cumberland County
Overturned tractor-trailer slowing I-81 traffic
Update: Crash cleared. An overturned tractor-trailer in slowing northbound traffic on Interstate 81. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the crash occurred around 3:13 p.m. today near Carlisle at Exit 45 to College Street. Traffic cams show a tractor-trailer overturned in the median. There is a lane restriction. Northbound traffic is backing up. … [Read more...] about Overturned tractor-trailer slowing I-81 traffic
Multi-vehicle crash causes backlog on Interstate 81 north in Carlisle
As of 12:05 p.m., the highway was reopened. Some traffic backlogged remained on the highway and in downtown Carlisle.Posted earlier on Cumberlink:A multiple-vehicle crash on Interstate 81 north closed a lane and is causing a backlog on the highway, as of 11:26 a.m.The crash occurred a little after 11 a.m. near the Hanover Street exit in Carlisle.As of 11:26 a.m., traffic was backlogged on I-81 north to the Dickinson Township area.Traffic was also backlogged in downtown Carlisle - on Ritner Highway near the Allen Road interchange, and on West High Street and South Hanover Street as vehicles travel back to the Hanover Street exit to get back onto the interstate.No other information was available about the crash.The same general area was the scene of a Friday crash that closed I-81 north. In that crash, a man changing a tire was struck and injured by a water tank truck, whose driver swerved to avoid slowing traffic, according to police. … [Read more...] about Multi-vehicle crash causes backlog on Interstate 81 north in Carlisle