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Asphalt Spill Closes Road in Lackawanna County

RANSOM TOWNSHIP — A dump truck hauling asphalt to a paving project overturned Thursday morning in Lackawanna County.
lacka dump truck

RANSOM TOWNSHIP -- A dump truck hauling asphalt to a paving project overturned Thursday morning in Lackawanna County.

It happened around 10 a.m. on Main Street in Ransom Township.

The crash happened in Ransom Township near the Luzerne County line.

The road is known as Main Street or Coxton Road, a busy route for tractor-trailers.

Traffic had to be stopped for a few hours when the dump truck lost control, spilling asphalt all over the road.

The driver of the dump truck told witnesses that his tire hit a gully on the side of this narrow road in Ransom Township. He was unable to regain control so the already narrow road was blocked by all the mess.

The dump truck was hauling asphalt which spilled and started to harden on Main Street, a few miles Duryea.

Truck drivers who often use this road were the first to encounter the crash.

"I'm happy, you know, nothing happened to me. I'm safe. After that, the guy's good. That's important," said Alexander Morales.

Another driver told Newswatch 16 that the dump truck driver complained of a broken rib.  He was taken to the hospital.

Then crews got to work on cleanup.

"Sets me back quite a few hours, I'll probably get back to our yard and be done for the day," said Robert Copeland.

Copeland drives this road several times a day. Though a sight to see, this didn't surprise him.

"Early in the morning people are going to work, I'm trying to get to the mill, and they're over the double yellow line. They fly like crazy."

Troopers say it's unclear whether another vehicle was on the road at the time of the crash.

The dump truck was hauling the asphalt to a PennDOT paving project only about a mile up the road.

The asphalt would go to waste.  A backhoe scraped it off the road.

All in all, it took a few hours for these truckers to get moving again.

"I don't drive fast on this road because I know how twisty and windy it is. That's all you have to do, slow down and take your time," said Copeland.

The road in Ransom reopened Thursday afternoon.

State police have not released the driver's name or his condition or whether he will face any traffic violations for the crash.

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