WASHINGTON – A tractor-trailer collision on the westbound Interstate 70 ramp to Interstate 15/340 early Thursday dropped a fuel tank from the interstate ramp onto Ballenger Creek Pike in Frederick, Md., causing two more crashes, Maryland State Police said.
The 2:40 a.m. collision closed the ramp and all lanes of Ballenger Creek Pike for more than three hours.
At 6 a.m., police said Ballenger Creek Pike/Md. 351 had reopened and that ramp should “open soon.”
State police said the initial investigation found that one tractor-trailer operator “lost control of the unit, left the roadway, struck and tore out approximately 100 feet of guardrail and came to rest after striking the concrete bridge abutment above Rt. 351.”
Part of the fuel tank burst on the ramp and another part fell onto Ballenger Creek Pike/Md. 351, causing two additional collisions.
The tractor-trailer’s fuel saddle spilled an unknown amount of diesel fuel onto the ramp, police said. Anti-skid material has been put down on the roadway.
WTOP Traffic reports the crash on the I-70 ramp involved two tractor-trailers. One has been towed from the scene.
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