Wednesday morning a traffic nightmare for BR and surrounding area
BATON ROUGE - Wednesday morning brought a rash of traffic nightmares to Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas, including an 18-wheeler that caught on fire, malfunctioning lights at a busy intersection, and a crash that blocked all lanes on the interstate.
It's unclear what caused the 18-wheeler fire early Wednesday morning, but the roadways felt the aftermath for hours. Traffic crawled and delays rose as first responders worked to move the truck off of the Interstate. As of 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, all lanes were cleared, but the congestion still stretched for five miles.
Meanwhile, the traffic lights at the busy intersection of Perkins Road at Essen Lane were out for over twelve hours. Drivers first noticed the outage Tuesday night around 7:30, but the lights still weren't functioning during the Wednesday morning rush hour.
The latest in the streak of traffic debacles was an accident on I-12 eastbound near the Satsuma exit around 9:30 a.m.—an accident that blocked every single lane. Drivers were able to pass via the shoulder, albeit at a snail's pace. As of 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, the wreck was cleared and there was no reported congestion.
For more updates, keep up with WBRZ Traffic here.