Overturned tanker truck carrying 3,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen causes delays on SR 16
A tanker truck took a spill and backed up traffic for Gig Harbor-area drivers for about five hours Monday morning.
The Washington State Department of Transportation tweeted about the collision around 3:45 a.m. on eastbound state Route 16 near 154th Street Northwest.
The truck was overturned and “caught up in power lines,” according to a tweet from Washington State Patrol Trooper John Dattilo.
“Luckily this was a non-injury collision,” Dattilo tweeted. “It was a liquid nitrogen tanker with a partial load (3,000 gallons), no spillage being reported and no impairment was suspected.”
The eastbound lanes of SR 16 at Purdy Drive were blocked, according to WSDOT tweets.
Drivers had to detour through state Route 302.
WSDOT officials told drivers to expect long delays.
“Before crews can remove the overturned tanker truck, crews are working to turn off power lines,” WSDOT tweeted.
Eastbound SR 16 reopened around 8:30 a.m., after a tow truck got the tanker truck back on its wheels and took it away.
