MDOT Commended for use of Twitter during I-75 emergency.
Press Release Summary:
John Horsley of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials commended the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), which used Twitter to communicate with travelers after a tanker truck crash and explosion on I-75 in Hazel Park. Short updates (tweets), posted during the shutdown, urged motorists to avoid the area and use provided detour information. Kirk Steudle, director of MDOT, said Twitter helped reach as many travelers as quickly as possible.
Original Press Release:
MDOT Uses Twitter to Reach Thousands During I-75 Shutdown
Interstate Reopened Just 4 Days After Inferno
The Michigan Department of Transportation used the social messaging service Twitter to communicate with thousands of travelers in the aftermath of the July 15 tanker truck crash and explosion on Interstate 75, in Hazel Park, near Detroit, that destroyed a highway overpass.
MDOT posted short updates or tweets during the shutdown, urging motorists to avoid the area and to use the valuable detour information being provided.
"160,000 daily travelers pass through that section of Interstate 75 between 8 Mile Road and I-696 in Oakland County, each day," said Kirk Steudle, director of the Michigan Department of Transportation. "It was essential that we reach as many of them as quickly as possible and Twitter helped us do that."
MDOT reopened both lanes of the interstate Wednesday, July 22.
The tanker, which contained 13,000 gallons of fuel, exploded into flames after investigators say it was involved in a collision with two other vehicles in the northbound lanes of I-75, under the Nine Mile overpass. The resulting explosion and fire caused the overpass to collapse. No vehicles or pedestrians were on the bridge at the time of the accident, and all three drivers involved in the collision escaped with only minor injuries.
Michigan DOT road crews worked around the clock to bring down the remaining sections of the overpass and clear away the debris. They also laid down fresh asphalt and repaired sections of interstate damaged in the inferno. MDOT reopened the southbound lanes of I-75 on Sunday, July 19, just four days after the accident.
An environmental cleanup company had to be called in to remove an oily residue that was discovered seeping from the pavement where the collision occurred. Once that work was completed the interstate was reopened in both directions.
"We commend the Michigan Department of Transportation for a job well done," said John Horsley, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. "Americans rely on their highways and they can depend on states to do what must be done to keep them informed and our highways open and operating safely."
MDOT estimates it could take six months to restore the 9 Mile overpass at a cost of $2 million. The overpass had just undergone a major rehabilitation last year.
