All lanes of northbound Interstate 35E south of Waxahachie have reopened after two jackknifed tractor-trailers crashed and caught fire under an overpass earlier Friday.
A rock hauler and a tractor-trailer carrying washers and dryers collided and erupted into flames in the northbound lanes of I-35E under the Connecting Road overpass at about 8:30 a.m., city officials said.
The overpass, known locally as the Ganaway Bridge, joins I-35E and U.S. 77 south of Waxahachie at mile marker 398.
Amy Hollywood, with the city of Waxahachie, said both of the drivers were able to escape the crash and fire without injury.
A few hours after the crash, southbound I-35E and U.S. 77 reopened, but crews had to clean up the gravel and debris on the northbound side of the freeway.
Northbound traffic began moving again at about 4:40 p.m.
I-35 was backed up for miles as some drivers heading toward Dallas stopped in Italy to wait until traffic started moving again.
“We have some young folks ahead of us who tell us they have had to backtrack about 12 miles total, so we are going to try an alternate route,” said driver Steve Walker, who was heading to Richardson.
The cause of the crash has not yet been determined.
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NBC 5's Julie Fine contributed to this report.
