BOWDEN – A dinner-time single vehicle semi crash on Highway 2 near Bowden late Thursday afternoon triggered the closure of lanes of the highway up until Friday morning but RCMP say preliminary reports indicate there were no injuries.
According to an update from the province's travel service just after 8 a.m. on Friday, Highway 2 southbound had fully reopened as vehicle recovery had been completed.
RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff said at 4:55 p.m. on Aug 1 Olds RCMP responded to a call of a semi that “flipped” over on Highway 2 a kilometre north of Bowden, and then blocked southbound lanes.
“The initial incident had indicated that the driver was out of the vehicle,” said Savinkoff. “I'll tell you that EMS was on scene. There was an ambulance that witnessed the collision, so they may not have responded. They just witnessed it.”
As for traffic being blocked for hours on the southbound lanes, Savinkoff said it may have been due to attempts to move the overturned semi from the highway.
“It (highway) was significantly reduced down to one lane, but I suspect in order to move that semi they must have had a whole road blocked off.”
Witnesses reported the semi rollover forced many southbound motorists to take back roads from Innisfail.
The province's travel advisory service said both northbound and southbound lanes were closed for vehicle recovery.
The province's travel service gave an update shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday that said northbound lanes of the highway had fully reopened and that one southbound lane was open.
By its 4:52 a.m. update, the travel advisory service said both southbound lanes "are blocked as crews work to upright and recover the vehicle. Expect delays."
