Traffic was backed up for kilometers on Highway 3 Monday afternoon, after a single vehicle accident closed the highway both directions for two hours.
A truck pulling a fifth wheel was travelling eastbound on Highway 3 heading back home to Alberta at around 2:15 p.m. Monday. There were three people, including the driver, inside the truck.
When it reached Olsen Overpass the driver noticed the trailer starting to swerve and tried to correct it. However, it is thought the driver over corrected, and flipped the trailer.
There were no injuries and no other vehicles were involved. Witnesses said the truck was not speeding.
The highway was closed in both directions for two hours, causing huge line ups of traffic.
“It was unfortunate timing,” said Sgt. Will Thien of the Elk valley RCMP. “It was just at the time when people were all heading back to Alberta after the long weekend. Everybody waits until the last minute to leave, of course. I have never seen so much traffic on Highway 3 as I did this weekend.”
He said the roads were dry and visibility was fairly good although it was cloudy.
“We’re not sure yet what the factors were causing this accident,” he said. “Possibly just driver error.
“It was a freak accident, but fortunately nobody got hurt.”
There was also an accident on Saturday afternoon in West Fernie. See this week's The Free Press for the story or click here.