Houston, Texas: Overturned 18-Wheeler and Hazmat Spill Close Westbound I-10 Lanes Near I-69

An overturned 18-wheeler closed several westbound lanes of Interstate 10 near downtown Houston on Friday morning, October 23, in a heavy truck crash that also spilled hazardous material on the East Freeway.

FOX 26 Houston reported that drivers should expect traffic delays in the downtown area on Friday morning after the truck overturned. KPRC 2 reported that multiple westbound lanes on Interstate 10 near Interstate 69 were shut down because of the overturned truck.

Which lanes closed

According to Houston TranStar, several lanes of I-10 East westbound near Highway 59 were closed because of the heavy truck accident and the hazmat spill, FOX 26 reported. The right shoulder, the right lane and the center lane were impacted.

The crash site sits at one of the busiest junctions on the east side of downtown Houston, where Interstate 10 meets Interstate 69 and U.S. 59, the Eastex Freeway. Westbound traffic at that interchange is heading toward downtown Houston, so a closure of three parts of the roadway in the morning hours reaches drivers well beyond the crash site itself.

Crews at the scene

Crews were at the scene on Friday morning to help clean the roadways, FOX 26 reported. The station said no other information had been provided at the time of its report.

Neither of the first two local television reports said whether anyone was injured. Neither report gave a cause for the crash, and neither said what material spilled or how much of it reached the roadway. KPRC 2 described the truck as an overturned 18-wheeler causing traffic concerns on Interstate 10 westbound near the Eastex Freeway on Friday morning.

What drivers faced on Friday morning

FOX 26 told drivers to expect some traffic delays in the downtown Houston area on Friday morning. The closure took the right side of the westbound freeway out of service at the interchange, which left the remaining westbound lanes to carry the morning traffic past the crash and the cleanup.

No reopening time was given in the first local reports. Drivers who use the East Freeway to reach downtown Houston on Friday morning were the ones most directly affected, because the impacted lanes are on the westbound side, the side that carries traffic into the center of the city.

What is not known yet

Houston TranStar listed the incident as a heavy truck accident and a hazmat spill. That listing is the official traffic record of the crash, and it is the source both local stations cited for the lane closures.

The reports did not say how the truck overturned, whether another vehicle was involved, or when the right shoulder, right lane and center lane would reopen. Those details were still missing when the first reports aired on Friday morning, and the story will be updated when Houston TranStar or the responding agencies release them.