Vehicle carrying 40K litres of liquid asphalt involved in crash west of Cambridge

As icy road conditions impacted roadways, some drivers were stuck on Highway 401 for hours. CTV’s Jeff Pickel explains why.

Drivers in southern Ontario might need to plan some extra time to get to their destinations on Friday as multiple crashes have significantly slowed down major routes.

At 11:55 a.m., the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said the westbound lanes of Highway 401 were fully closed between Cedar Creek Road and Oxford Road 29/Drumbo Road in Blandford Blenheim, west of Cambridge.

Sgt. Ed Sanchuk said multiple crashes involving commercial motor vehicles had been reported along that stretch of highway. ‘Commercial motor vehicles’ include, but are not limited to, transport trucks, buses and delivery vans.

“Right now, even more bad news, was that one commercial motor vehicle that was carrying 40,000 litres of liquid asphalt is current leaking,” Sanchuk said in a video posted on social media. “We do have our specialists on scene containing that spill, the Ministry of Environment has been notified but more importantly, there are going to be intermittent highway closures here to allow for this cleanup.”

No injuries were reported.

In an update at 2:56 p.m., the OPP said the road might reopen by 6 p.m.

Drivers who were stuck in the closure were allowed to slowly inch along the highway using the shoulder.

The latest closure on the highway comes after the eastbound lanes of Highway 401 at Blenheim Road were closed for several hours overnight.

The OPP first announced the closure along the highway in Drumbo due to icy conditions at 10:05 p.m. Thursday. The highway remained closed until approximately 7 a.m., when it fully reopened.

Meanwhile, earlier on Friday, the OPP reported a tractor-trailer crash in the westbound lanes of Highway 401 at Franklin Boulevard in Cambridge. The highway was reduced to two right lanes. No injuries were reported. That crash was cleared, and that part of the highway fully reopened by 10:10 a.m.