Morning commute crawls as third collision in a week closes 401

Highway 401 westbound was closed for several hours during theWednesday morning commute after a rear-end collision caused a dump truck to crash and rollover in Cambridge, closing the highway between Hespeler Rd. and Highway 8.

There have been several major delays on that stretch of the highway recently.

OPP SergeantKerrySchmidt told CBC KW "the common thread in all the collisions is transport trucks were involved in the collisions.

"A vehicle was rear ended on the highway, really for no reason.This was absolutely preventable," said Schmidt of the collision on Wednesay.

Police first tweeted about the crash at 2 a.m. The closure lasted throughout the morning drive leading to major delays on the 401 both east and westbound and alternate routes throughout Waterloo region.

The crash spilled hot asphalt from a dump truck onto the highway. OPP say the driver of the dump truck suffered minor injuries while the driver of the other transport truck, hauling auto parts was hurt badly but is expected to survive.

Transport trucks involved

"When [transport trucks] wreck, if there's a spill or any compromising integrity to their vehicle, it can have a huge impact on traffic trying to get through there and clean up crews trying to get the highway re-opened,"said Schmidt.

A multi-vehicle crash closed the westbound lanes at Guelph Line on Tuesday and clean-up includeddiesel fuelthat spilled out of a transport truck.

On Oct. 11,all westbound lanes near the Highway 6 south exit were closed at 5 a.m. for several hours after a fiery crash involving a car and a transport truck. In that crash, diesel fuel ate through the asphalt of the road, meaning it needed to be resurfaced before anyone could drive on it again.