MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Several lanes of Florida’s Turnpike were shut down for hours Friday after a tanker overturned in a crash near Bird Road in Miami-Dade County, spilling fuel in the roadway.
The Florida Highway Patrol said the crash involved four vehicles and took place at approximately 6:15 a.m.
The driver of the tanker was taken to Kendall Regional Medical Center as a trauma alert, FHP Lt. Alex Camacho said.
Miami-Dade’s Department of Environmental Resources Management has been notified of the fuel leak, and county fire rescue officials say it could be up to 8,500 gallons of fuel that were spilled.
An alternate route from the southbound lanes is to exit on Bird Road and head south on Southwest 107th Avenue.
A spokeswoman from the Florida Department of Transportation said cleanup in the area is ongoing and southbound traffic was continuing to be detoured late Friday afternoon. She said northbound lanes have been reopened.
“At this point, it is too early to determine what type of damages the roadway has incurred as a result,” she said.
#TrafficAlert:
— FHP Miami (@FHPMiami) July 30, 2021
The northbound & southbound lanes of the FL Turnpike are completely shutdown in the area of Bird Rd.
Troopers are on scene investigating a crash involving an overturned tanker which caused a fuel spill onto the roadway.
Motorists should avoid the area! pic.twitter.com/pl0UrlWSOL