NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A number of individuals had been injured Tuesday morning after foggy situations contributed to a number of automotive crashes that compelled the closure of the 24-mile-long (38.6-kilometer-long) bridge connecting the north and south shores of southeast Louisiana’s Lake Pontchartrain. By early night, each spans had reopened.
Carlton Dufrechou, the final supervisor of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, stated there have been six crashes — two on the southbound span and 4 on the northbound span. St. Tammany Parish fireplace officers informed native information shops that 33 individuals had been transported to space hospitals with accidents. There have been no fatalities.
Dufrechou stated he didn’t know the precise variety of autos concerned within the crashes or the overall variety of accidents.
A complete of 30 individuals had been stranded on the bridge for hours and had been transported by van to both Metairie on the south shore or Mandeville on the lake’s north shore all through the day, officers stated.
“Fog was undoubtedly an element however from what I’m listening to it was not the (solely) issue,” he stated. “There was some haze on the bridge however the fog developed rapidly. We take a look at accidents on a regular basis on this bridge and 60% to 70% of these wrecks are on account of inattentive driving, both texting or answering a telephone or trying down and never trying on the street.”
The causeway, connecting the New Orleans metro space on the south shore to suburban communities on the north shore, was closed round 8:30 a.m. After broken autos from the 2 parallel spans had been cleared, the bridge was reopened at about 5 p.m. with rolling convoys, officers stated.
Tuesday’s crashes had been harking back to a lethal accident on Interstate 55 on Oct. 23, 2023, close to New Orleans. Seven motorists died and about two dozen had been injured in pileups involving about 160 vehicles amid a brilliant fog, which is created by smoke from marsh fires mixing with dense fog.
The Bonnet Carre Spillway Bridge was additionally briefly closed amid the fog however was later reopened. No accidents had been reported on that bridge throughout the unhealthy climate.
Picture: Disabled autos and response autos are seen on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which spans 24 miles over the lake, after a pileup on account of morning fog in New Orleans, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Picture/Gerald Herbert)
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