This story has been updated again with new information.
ZANESVILLE – Crews working at a semi-truck crash site in Interstate 70’s eastbound lanes had gotten one lane open earlier March 5, but now more stoppages could be expected as a damaged power pole is investigated.
Additionally, the westbound express lane was closed at around 1:15 p.m. to allow access to trucks and construction crews, allowing them to triage the situation and rerun electrical wires.
The closures have no timetable, explained Muskingum County EMA Director Jeff Jadwin, who updated the TR at 1:24 p.m. The damage is still not fully known, he said.
The westbound exit lane is still open, however, so the State and Underwood exits are still accessible.
“I just want people to know that there are going to be delays,” he said.
Eastbound traffic had previously been backed up to around the Kopchak Road bridge, or around mile marker 150 or 151, Jadwin estimated. The flow was bottlenecked into the one open lane at 15- to 20-mile-per-hour rates.
Both eastbound lanes were previously closed after a semi-truck veered off the right side of the highway and hit a power pole inside a reconstruction zone outside Zanesville.
The crash initially occurred at around 5 a.m., Jadwin previously estimated, and was near The Fieldhouse Family Sports and Wellness Center and a mile away from the Adamsville Road exit.
The driver is OK, Jadwin told the Times Recorder, and the westbound lanes are originally unaffected.
Responders do not know why the truck veered off the road, Jadwin explained. The driver had mentioned the vehicle started shaking before exiting the highway.
The utility pole’s 480-volt capacity, which runs the nearby construction lights, made it initially unapproachable by first responders, Jadwin explained.
ODOT, Muskingum County Sheriff’s Office, Muskingum County EMA, Zanesville Police Department, and Washington Fire Department assisted at the scene.
Shawn Digity is a reporter for the Zanesville Times Recorder. He can be emailed at sdigity@gannett.com or found on X at @ShawnDigityZTR.
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: More I-70 traffic delays expected as crews inspect damaged power pole
Reporting by Shawn Digity, Zanesville Times Recorder / Zanesville Times Recorder
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