The Ontario Provincial Police say all westbound lanes have now reopened on Highway 401 in Whitby following a fallen overhead road sign.
Police said the sign had collapsed near Brock Street on Friday morning just before 8 a.m. prompting officers to shut down that stretch of highway.
The highway reopened to motorists just before noon on Friday.
OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said a witness came forward and identified a transport truck “responsible” for crashing into the sign as it was driving with the box up.
A blue overhead sign indicating Highway 407 via Highway 412 was seen with a large scratch and indent mark along with the structural support and the green Brock Street Whitby exit.
Schmidt said the collision caused the sign to buckle and collapse onto the highway.
Schmidt said the witness reported seeing the driver of the truck pulled over up the road, get out of the vehicle and drop the box and then exit onto Brock Street.
The OPP have identified the truck and driver involved in crashing into the overhead sign and are looking to lay charges.
“This kind of thing should never happen and I don’t know how you can be driving down the highway with your box in the up position,” Schmidt said.
No injuries were reported.
All westbound traffic of Highway 401 was re-directed off at Thickson Road while crews worked on getting the crane off the roadway which required heavy equipment such as bringing in a crane.
In an update at 2:45 p.m., Schmidt said investigators had located the truck believed to be involved in the incident.
He said the truck has a dump-style trailer that is able to “extend and lift to dump its load.”
Schmidt said the investigation is ongoing.
“Thanks to the witnesses that called in to give information to assist us in locating this truck,” he said. “We are now speaking with the driver and the company to determine exactly what happened, why it happened, and how we can prevent this from happening again.”
In a statement to Global News, Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation told Global News said the incident had cleared and that all lanes had reopened to traffic.
“The timeline for the installation of a replacement sign is to be investigated by the Ministry,” the statement read. “Temporary directional signs to motorists will be installed while the Ministry works on procuring a permanent replacement sign.”
In an update at around 4:10 p.m., police said a 24-year-old man from Brampton had been charged with having an over-height vehicle, failing to remain and careless driving.
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