Several roads have been closed off in Macedonia, Ohio, near Interstate Highway 271 and state Route 8 after a large tanker truck carrying approximately 7,500 gallons of diesel fuel crashed and exploded Saturday Jan. 27. 

Preventative measures were taken and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made it to the scene of the accident to ensure the safety of those in the area. 

“Ohio EPA OSCs [On-Scene Coordinators] were on the scene to make sure all appropriate steps were taken to ensure the health and safety of Ohioans and its waterways,” Anthony Chenault, the media coordinator for Ohio EPA, said in an email. 

Due to road closures, commuters have been forced to find other ways to get to their destinations. 

Ohio State Representative Bill Roemer said after visiting the site of the crash on Sunday, he thought about the impact this will have on those who travel these roads.

“I thought, the impact this is going to have on the commute and the ability to get people around because that’s a very important intersection,” Roemer said. 

Steve Testa, a teacher at Nordonia High School, said his drive to work was not majorly affected by the accident.

“Going to school was not too bad,” Testa said. “It probably only added two or three minutes to my drive.” 

Testa said the drive home is what takes a considerably longer amount of time, despite trying several different routes.  

“The way back is probably about 10 minutes longer,” Testa said. “I’ve actually tried four different ways going home.” 

Roemer said as of Friday, Feb. 2, two of the three roads that were blocked off are now open.

“One is 271-flyover from Route 8 north is reopened but one lane open from 271-south to Route 8 south.” 

Roemer said the reason one lane is open is because the other two are “lane bridges,” and they are being used to give workers space. 

Nick Molnar, the Macedonia mayor, said the bridge that was driven off of will need to undergo repairs.

“From what we understand from ODOT, [Ohio Department of Transportation] there’s some repairs that need to be made there,” Molnar said. 

Molnar said the bridge is safe and there are specifications put in place when bridges are being built to ensure safety. 

“In terms of safety, it’s a very safe bridge,” Molnar said. “There are standards in place for ODOT when they build these types of things that are looked at to make sure that if accidents happen they’re as avoidable as possible.”

Molnar said it is unknown what caused the driver to go off the road, and once they have an investigation underway, then they can have a better concept of what took place. 

“Unfortunately, we don’t know what happened with that driver,” Molnar said. “We’re trying to get that investigation through other avenues or other agencies are going to try and figure that out.” 

Roemer said during his discussion with ODOT, they said they are aiming to have southbound Route 8 reopened Feb. 5. 

“They believe that southbound will be open Monday morning [Feb 5] for rush hour,” Roemer said.

Testa said there is not much to be done about the closures, and it is important to ensure everything is safe for travel.

“I don’t know what you can do about it,” he said. “There was an accident, and you have to make sure that it’s not dangerous to drive.”

Testa said he has assurance everyone is doing what is necessary. 

“I trust that they are doing what they need to do,” he said. 

MinJee Yoo is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].