Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Northbound I-680 in Sunol Reopened After Overturned Big Rig Snarls Commute

CHP issued a Sig-Alert at 5:17 a.m. The big rig was reportedly carrying mail for the United States Postal Service and was cleared away about seven hours after the collision.

Updated at 2:11 p.m.

By Bay City News—

All lanes have reopened on northbound Interstate Highway 680 in Sunol this afternoon, more than seven hours after a truck hauling mail tipped over, according to a California Highway Patrol officer.

The overturned big-rig was reported just after 5 a.m. on Highway 680 north of Andrade Road. A Sig-alert was issued at 5:17 a.m., according to the CHP.

All northbound lanes were closed until around 7 a.m. when one lane and the center divide opened. At 12:14 p.m., the rest of the lanes reopened, CHP Officer Ron Simmons said.

The big-rig, which was contracted with the U.S. Postal Service, was carrying mail and five trays fell out in the incident, according to USPS spokesman Augustine Ruiz.

A tray holds about 200 pieces of mail, he said.

All of the mail in the truck had to be transferred to another truck and returned to a processing center in San Jose.

The mail was expected to be delivered Saturday, Ruiz said. No mail was lost in the incident and no individual pieces of mail fell on the roadway, Ruiz said.

Before the road could reopen, a mail inspector had to respond to the scene and oversee the transfer of the mail from the overturned truck, Simmons said.

Original article:

All lanes of northbound Interstate Highway 680 in Sunol are blocked by an overturned big rig this morning, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Just after 5 a.m., the CHP received a report of a big rig that had flipped onto its side on northbound I-680, just north of Andrade Road.

The condition of the driver has not been released, but an ambulance is responding to the site of the collision, according to the CHP.

The CHP issued a Sig-alert at 5:17 a.m. and advised motorists to
avoid the area until at least 7:30 a.m., as the overturned tractor-trailer is
blocking all lanes of traffic.

Copyright © 2013 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.

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