“It’s been over three hours”: Semi-truck crash causes I-75 to shut down, stranding drivers

OCALA, Fla. (WCJB) - Emergency crews responded to a crash on Interstate 75 in Ocala after an oversized vehicle hit the overpass at SW 66th Street on Wednesday.

“I was directly almost behind him, not too close, as I saw him approaching it I could almost see where he’s going to hit it a little bit so I started laying into the horn,” said Julian Abrams, witness.

Florida Highway Patrol troopers say the crash was reported at 9:14 a.m. on I-75 near mile marker 347 in Marion County. Troopers say a vehicle was too big to pass under the overpass and hit the structure.

“We got here about 9:10 so we’ve been here over three hours,” said Nichole Puglia, witness. “We saw the truck actually hit the bridge and it kept going through it. At first I just saw a lot of smoke and I wasn’t sure if something fell off of the truck.”

Northbound lanes have been blocked since 9:15 a.m., and Southwest 66th Street, also known as Williams Road, is closed.

Puglia was supposed to go to a work conference in Jacksonville this morning. “Depending on how much longer we’re here we probably will miss the conference today,” she said.

“It was pretty scary I’ve never been in anything like this,” said Puglia. “Or had to wait this long for them to clear a bridge that we can get under. It’s been a long time and I have to use the bathroom.”

A spokesperson for FHP said they removed the trailer from underneath the overpass around 1:15 p.m.

“We’ve got pretty significant damage to the overpass. We’ve got Florida Department of Transportation engineers here on the scene, bridge inspectors,” said Lt. Patrick Riordan, FHP spokesperson.

Northbound lanes were reopened after bridge inspectors gave go ahead, however, the overpass remained closed.

Originally, traffic was diverted to Highway 484 and traffic already on the interstate was directed to make a U-turn from the Northbound lanes to the Southbound lanes.

For the people near the crash, their days certainly took an unexpected turn.

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