All lanes have reopened on Highway 401 in Milton after more than 20 vehicles, including around seven transport trucks, were involved in a pileup Wednesday afternoon, blocking all westbound lanes west of Highway 25.
The collision occurred shortly before 1 p.m., the Ontario Provincial Police said, causing a massive backlog of traffic. After around two hours, traffic finally started to move again.
More than 20 vehicles were involved in a pileup Wednesday afternoon on Hwy 401 in Milton. (OPP SGT. KERRY SCHMIDT / TWITTER)
Video and photos posted to Schmidt’s Twitter page showed numerous vehicles stalled at all angles across the multi-lane highway, blocking traffic. The majority of the vehicles appeared largely undamaged, but several had smashed windshields or crumpled hoods and backends where other vehicles had collided with them.
No serious injuries have been reported.
Tow trucks were on scene shortly after 2 p.m. to begin the cleanup, but it wasn’t until an hour later that the heavier vehicles were able to be moved off the highway.
“If you are travelling westbound, you want to get off before you hit Hwy. 25,” Schmidt warned in his initial post about the collision.
As of 1:30 p.m., he reported that there was 10 km of backed up traffic.
“This is going to be a major delay, major cleanup,” he said.
OPP are investigating with the aid of Halton police. Traffic was slow on the eastbound lanes and on side roads in the area during the cleanup process, and it was some time before traffic finally caught up.
Source: The Toronto Star