Accidents tangle West Side traffic

COLUMBUS – A pair of predawn accidents involving tractor-trailers and their cargo created gridlock on the West Side that lasted through most of the morning rush-hour.

A tractor trailer transporting beer (pictured, above left) crashed on westbound I-70 between the West Outerbelt and Hilliard-Rome Road just before 3:00 a.m., shutting down the two right lanes of the interstate and the ramps from I-270 to I-70 West, said Ohio Department of Transportation spokeswoman Nancy Burton.

To add insult to injury, a tandem tractor trailer carrying hazardous material crashed on I-270 northbound at Roberts Road (above) about two hours later, closing all the northbound lanes of the Outerbelt and the ramps from I-70 to I-270 North, Burton said.