Two separate accidents snarl traffic on Skyland Boulevard, Tuscaloosa police say

Staff report
·1 min read
Two serious accidents occurred within minutes of each other Wednesday morning at the intersection of Exit 76 and Skyland Boulevard westbound. {Tuscaloosa Police Department}
Two serious accidents occurred within minutes of each other Wednesday morning at the intersection of Exit 76 and Skyland Boulevard westbound. {Tuscaloosa Police Department}

Two children were taken to a Birmingham hospital with serious injuries Wednesday morning after two wrecks on Skyland Boulevard, according to Tuscaloosa police.

At 7:32 a.m., a westbound box truck overturned after its load shifted, causing the truck to block the inside lane of Skyland Boulevard in front of the Pilot Travel Center at 4416 Skyland Blvd. E.

A worker with the Alabama Department of Transportation pulled his vehicle in front of the box truck to assist and a Tuscaloosa police officer  on his way to work stopped, parking his patrol car near the  ALDOT vehicle.

At 7:43 a.m., a woman driving a Dodge mini-van was leaving the eastbound ramp of Interstate 20/59 when her van struck an eastbound 18-wheeler flatbed hauling building supplies. The collision pushed pushed the flatbed across the median and into the westbound lanes where the first accident occurred. The flatbed truck struck the unoccupied ALDOT truck and TPD patrol car. The TPD officer was standing on the driver’s side, and avoided serious injury.

The woman and four children who were in the van were all taken to DCH Regional Medical Center. Two of the children were then taken to a hospital in Birmingham with serious injuries.

Alabama state troopers are investigating both collisions.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Two separate accidents snarl traffic on Skyland Boulevard