SAN ANTONIO – John Martinez knew he was in for a long drive Tuesday morning when he left his home near Highway 151 for his job on San Antonio’s Northeast Side.
What he wasn’t prepared for was sitting in traffic for nearly an hour.
“By the time I got over here, it was ridiculous,” he said. “I finally got out and I came here to put gas. I’m already late.”
Martinez was among thousands of drivers who were caught behind the site of a crash on Interstate 35, south of Rittiman Road, where and 18-wheeler had crashed into the back of a convoy of street sweepers.
San Antonio police say both the big rig driver, and the person behind the wheel of the signal truck that he hit, escaped serious injury.
The crash happened before 1 a.m.
However, the problems it caused persisted hours later.
Police say as a crew attempted to clear the big rig from the road, its trailer opened up, spilling its hazardous haul across the highway.
They say the truck was carrying vegetables which were under quarantine for containing insect larvae.
A hazardous materials team had to be called in to pick up the produce.
The spill caused a shutdown of the entire northbound side of the interstate for several hours.
Even after police reopened one lane, the traffic problems persisted.
After being stuck on the road for so long, Martinez had to stop for gas.
But he hoped, somehow, he’d be able to make up for the time he lost from work.
“I already called them and told them I was going to be a little bit late,” he said, hopefully.
On this morning, it seems he wasn’t the only one whose schedule was delayed.