Multi-vehicle crash blocks interstate running through Midlands on wet morning commute
A collision involving multiple vehicles has blocked a stretch of an interstate running through Lexington County during a rainy Thursday morning commute.
The crash happened at about 7:20 a.m. on Interstate 26 near Exit 113, the South Carolina Department of Transportation said on Twitter. That exit is the junction with S.C. 302, with traffic heading toward Cayce and the Columbia Metropolitan Airport.
Two eastbound lanes were blocked by the wreck, according to the tweet.
No injuries were reported in the collision, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety.
Emergency vehicles and cars involved in the crash were blocking lanes and creating delays for drivers heading east from Columbia, traffic cameras showed.
Information on what caused the wreck was not available, but steady rain overnight has made for wet driving conditions on I-26 and all Midlands roads.
“Just a friendly reminder....wipers on, headlights on, & slow down,” the South Carolina Highway Patrol tweeted.
It’s expected to rain much of Thursday, and more than an inch of precipitation is forecast to fall in the Columbia area, the national Weather Service said.
Moments after that section of the highway was reopened, another collision was reported further up I-26, blocking a lane near Exit 115, according to SCDOT.
No injuries were reported in that second wreck, according to SCDPS. All lanes were reopened at about 8:20 a.m.
In an unrelated incident on Interstate 20, drivers were delayed by a disabled vehicle, SCDOT tweeted.
The vehicle appeared to be a flatbed tractor trailer truck, traffic cameras showed.
One eastbound lane of I-20 was closed near Exit 55, according to the tweet. That’s the junction with S.C. 6.
The delays were longer because drivers were unable to move into the open lane since a concrete barrier separated them as part of an ongoing traffic shift on the highway to widen the road.
It took about 45 minutes for the truck to be cleared and the lane to be reopened.
From 6:45 to 8 a.m., more than 10 incidents were reported on roads in Richland and Lexington counties, according to the SCDPS. Several of them were in the stretch of mile marker 112 to 116 westbound on I-26.
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
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This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 7:54 AM.
