A trucker is facing a careless driving charge after a tractor-trailer plowed into a Highway 401 work zone as crews cleaned up a crash scene early Thursday morning.
Highway 401’s eastbound lanes are closed at Winston Churchill Boulevard in Mississauga after the crash occurred at about midnight, creating a major disruption for commuters.
Most of the lanes are expected to be closed until 5 p.m. as crews clean up an oil and diesel fuel spill, and make repairs to the highway.
OPP were hoping to reopen the lanes by 6:30 a.m. but the highway was still slick from the spill and was not safe for motorists, so. MTO employees repeatedly dumped and swept up sand to get rid of the oil and fuel.
More than 12 hours after the crash, crews are repaving the stretch of highway that was affected.
OPP said the shoulder lane is expected to reopen at 5 p.m., meaning motorists should avoid the area during the afternoon commute, if possible. It's not known when the remaining lanes will reopen.
The crash occurred when a tractor-trailer travelling in the right lane plowed into barricades that were set up to protect the road crew and then struck an attenuator truck, which is used to warn oncoming drivers of a lane closure, said Ontario Provincial Police spokesman Sgt. Dave Woodford.
A supervisor's truck and a service truck hauling a backhoe were also struck in the chain-reaction crash.
Woodford said a man who was securing the backhoe to the trailer was thrown to the ground and was taken to Sunnybrook hospital with serious injuries.
At least one other person suffered minor injuries.
With files from CP24's Cam Woolley
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