A transport truck and its load slammed into the 402 Indian Rd. overpass in Sarnia over the noon hour Monday causing significant structural damage and closing the eastbound lanes indefinitely. OPP say debris was left all over the highway and the overpass structure has to be inspected. Indian Rd. is also closed between Exmouth St. and Rosedale Ave. until further notice. All eastbound 402 traffic between the Blue Water Bridge and Indian Rd. is being diverted to Front St. to Exmouth St. and back to Indian Rd. where the eastbound 402 on-ramp can still be accessed. City police are asking motorists to try to avoid Exmouth St. if possible due to traffic congestion, especially eastbound.
Officials announced Monday night that the emergency detour will be in place for the next several days while the Ontario Ministry of Transportation completes its structural inspection and assessment of the damaged overpass. Depending on the results of the investigation, officials say the detour could continue for a prolonged period of time.
City of Sarnia engineering staff will modify traffic signal timing at some of the intersections along Exmouth St. from Front St. to Indian Rd. to try to improve traffic flow.
Lambton OPP say the incident occurred at about 12:15pm. They say the load on a flatbed trailer being towed by a transport truck apparently was too high and struck the overpass. The load separated from the trailer and came to rest in the eastbound lanes.
