I-75 South in Pasco closed after trucks crash

Update: Due to the damage to the road, the southbound lanes are expected to remain closed until at least 6 p.m., troopers said. Asphalt must be replaced.

Southbound traffic on Interstate 75 in Pasco County is shut down this morning after a fiery crash involving a semitrailer and dump truck near State Road 56.

Neither driver was injured, troopers said.

Southbound lanes are expected to remain closed until noon, troopers said.

Motorists will be diverted onto State Road 54 (exit 279). Traffic south of that exit and north of the crash will be diverted back to State Road 54 or southbound on the shoulder to State 56 to exit.

Other motorists should avoid roads in the area.

The Florida Highway Patrol said the crash occurred about 6:30 a.m.

According to investigators, the tractor-trailer was traveling south in the outside lane of I-75 in a construction zone, where it collided with a crash attenuator, troopers said.

The collision caused the truck to partially jackknife and collide with the center median guardrail, troopers said.

The dump truck, traveling behind the tractor-trailer, was unable to stop or avoid a collision, striking the rear of the tractor-trailer, troopers said.

Both drivers were able to exit their vehicles before a fire erupted on the tractor-trailer.

The tractor-trailer, operated by Pat Salmon & Sons of Jacksonville, was transporting mail, troopers said.
 

85 mph highway opens in Texas

Wednesday marked the opening of the new 85 mph speed limit on Texas State Highway 130, where a 40-mile section of the highway — a toll road — between San Antonio and Austin is now home to the country’s highest speed limit.

The stretch of highway is privately managed, and the 85 mph speed limit has been in the works for some time. As Overdrive reported in June, Texas Department of Transportation officials told the media they were performing studies to test the feasibility  of an 85 mph speed limit for SH 130.

A law passed in 2011 allowed speed limits of up to 85 mph, but this is the first to go so far. Others in the state have posted 75 mph speed limits, and in March, a stretch of 130 between Georgetown and Mustang Ridge and SH 45SE from Mustang Ridge to I-35 in South Travis County became the first to post 80 mph limits.

Is is safe or is that too fast?