SOUTH ABINGTON TOWNSHIP, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — An entrance ramp to Interstate 81 is back open after a tractor-trailer flipped in Lackawanna County.
The area has become a common place for crashes posing a danger for drivers.
A tractor-trailer rollover snarled traffic Tuesday morning as the rollover happened off exit 194 in Lackawanna County near I-81 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
That exit leads travelers onto I-81 northbound near Clarks Summit.
The tractor-trailer rolled over on its side and the driver walked away without injury. The ramp was temporarily shut down so crews could upright the 18-wheeler.
The towing company says this has become a common area for wrecks.
“There’s been a lot of them in this area, because of the speed and the curve. What happens is the load shifts and it just flips the load over,” explained Joseph Zator a supervisor at Johnson’s Towing and Recovery.
Eyewitness News has been on the scene of a couple of rollover crashes on the same exit/on-ramp.
In February 2019, the truck driver was trapped for hours.
Another crash occurred in August 2022 the driver left the scene uninjured.
Tuesday Eyewitness News witnessed many tractor-trailers pass by the crash. One had to back up in order to make the turn.
There is some hope for drivers on the Clarks Summit Interchange, it’s expected to get revamped in the future. The ramps are part of the Scranton Beltway Project.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is developing plans to link I-81 and the Turnpike’s Northeast Extension in the Scranton area to form a beltway that will help ease congestion on I-81.
A public hearing for the proposed project is expected to happen sometime this year.
Tuesday’s wreck took nearly four hours to clear, the driver was not injured but state police say they were cited for the wreck.