A short stretch of Interstate 435 in Johnson County was closed for several hours Saturday night into Sunday morning after a truck spilled hot tar on the pavement.
Overland Park police and firefighters were first called to the westbound lanes of I-435 near Roe Boulevard for a reported vehicle fire at 7:53 p.m. Saturday.
Arriving officers reported that nothing was on fire, but a truck had spilled hot tar across three lanes of the highway.
Several vehicles were damaged after driving through the spill.
Police and Kansas Highway Patrol troopers diverted all westbound traffic onto the exit ramps at Roe and Nall. Drivers were able to remain on the exit road, pass the spill scene and then rejoin the interstate.
Crews from the Kansas Department of Transportation were called in to clean up the lumps of tar that had by then adhered to the pavement.
Leawood firefighters were dispatched to the scene at about 11:15 p.m. Firefighters used their hoses to assist with part of the clean-up effort.
All westbound lanes reopened just after 12:30 a.m. Sunday.
No injuries were reported. No other details were immediately available.
Mike Frizzell is a freelance crime and fire reporter who runs Operation 100 News.
