Spilled Yellow Paint Closes Portion of I-75 Through Gibsonton

GIBSONTON, FL -- An accident on Interstate 75 near the Gibsonton Drive exit has drivers seeing yellow -- literally.

The four-vehicle collision caused a semi-truck to spill its load of bright yellow powdered paint across southbound lanes of the highway.

As a result, the Florida Highway Patrol has closed all but one southbound lane of I-75 between Gibsonton Drive and Symmes Road. Troopers expect the lanes to be closed for a “significant portion of the day" while crews clean up the paint and make repairs. Drivers are advised to use U.S. 41 and U.S. 301 as alternative routes.

The accident, which occurred at 11:10 p.m. Sunday, March 25, has been causing delays on the highway throughout the morning.

A semi-truck and two dump trucks were traveling south in the outside lane of I-75 south of Gibsonton Drive when the driver of the semi-truck, Travis Earl Blue, 41, of Union Springs, Ala., lost control and drove into the shoulder of the road to avoid crashing into a dump truck driven by Albert Johns Jr., 57, of Riverview.

Blue struck an impact attenuator that was being towed by Johns' dump truck. Also known as a crash cushion or cowboy cushion, an impact attenuator is a intended to reduce the damage to vehicles involved in collisions.

After striking the impact attenuator, Blue’s semi-truck swerved back into the outside lane and hit another dump truck, this one driven by Christopher Reid, 42, of Tampa

Reid’s dump truck was propelled onto the shoulder of I-75 where it crashed into a street sweeper driven by George Johnson, 32, of Plant City, who was traveling on the shoulder of the road.

Blue’s semi-truck then jackknifed in the center lane of southbound I-75, spilling a load of yellow powdered paint and diesel fuel he was carrying.

Blue sustained minor injuries. He was cited for careless driving. The other drivers were not injured.

Image via FHP