Ramp reopens following turkey truck rollover in Maple Grove

September 3, 2014 at 4:21AM
Clean-up continued on the ramp from I-494 NB to I-694/94 EB after a turkey truck rolled over.
Clean-up continued on the ramp from I-494 NB to I-694/94 EB after a turkey truck rolled over. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

A freeway ramp in Maple Grove was closed for several hours Tuesday morning after a semitrailer truck carrying turkeys overturned around 4:30 a.m. and blocked the exit ramp.

Officials from the Minnesota Department of Transportation said the ramp from northbound Interstate 494 to eastbound I-94/694 reopened around 10 a.m..

Northbound I-494 traffic was directed to westbound I-94, which led to ramp jams at the Weaver Lake Road exit, which commuters used to access eastbound I-94.

That in turn snarled traffic on the eastbound lanes as far back as 101st Avenue N. during the peak of the morning rush.

All lanes on eastbound I-94/694 to southbound 494 remained open.

No one was injured in the crash, but it wasn't clear if any of the turkeys were killed or injured, officials said.

Tim Harlow

A semitrailer truck hauling turkeys overturned on a northwest metro freeway in the predawn hours Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2014, spilling its load and forcing authorities to close the road. The truck tipped over on the ramp from northbound 494 to eastbound 94/694 in Maple Grove around 4:30 a.m. and landed on its side. The ramp is expected to be closed throughout the morning rush hour, a MnDOT spokesman said. Photo courtesy MnDOT.
A truck hauling turkeys overturned in Maple Grove early Tuesday. No one was injured. It was unclear whether any birds were killed, officials said. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
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