MANDEVILLE, La. — The north and south lanes of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway were reopened Tuesday after a large multi-vehicle crash closed the bridge in the morning.
Both north and southbound traffic is being led by a rolling convoy until further notice, officials said.
Causeway authorities closed the bridge in both directions around 8:30 a.m. during the morning commute as heavy fog swept in the area.
Carlton Dufrechou, the general manager of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, said there were six crashes -- two on the southbound span and four on the northbound span. At least 15 people were transported to area hospitals. Other agencies haven't yet provided a total number of victims sent to area hospitals.
Fog was reported as a factor in the pile-up.
“The positive news is, while we had many injuries today, I still don't know the total count, all of those folks are going to be okay,” Dufrechou said.
Drivers say the fog was thick and appeared unexpectedly, but Dufrechou says some of the accidents could still have been avoided.
“Over 60% of the crashes we have on the Causeway every month are due to inattentive driving. Inattentive driving had a lot to do with what happened today, too,” Dufrechou said.
With more fog expected on Wednesday, he asks drivers to slow down and pay attention.
“Please a message for everybody, when you get behind the wheel, pay attention,” Dufrechou said.
“Fog was definitely a factor but from what I’m hearing it was not the (only) factor,” he said. “There was some haze on the bridge but the fog developed all of a sudden. We look at accidents all the time on this bridge and 60% to 70% of those wrecks are due to inattentive driving, either texting or answering a phone or looking down and not looking at the road."
Dufrechou said he didn’t know the exact number of vehicles involved in the crashes or the total number of injuries. Some officials estimated that at least 40-to-50 cars were involved in the incident.
One driver spoke to WWL Louisiana's Reporter Amelia Strahan.
“I look in my rearview mirror, and I start hearing collisions and semi-trucks and a bunch of other vehicles,” Brentin Hosli said. “They crashed into me, and pushed me into the wall.” Hosli braced himself as one car after another slammed into his car on the Causeway.
“You’re just hearing everything going crazy behind you and in front of you, and yeah, you don't know when it's gonna end, and that was the freakiest part, I think,” Hosli said.
While he waited for help, he took video of one of six crash sites along the Causeway.
Initially Causeway officials expected to open the bridge by 12 p.m. However, work continued to perform cleanup and assess the damage.
Motorists were advised to use alternate routes I-10 East to the Twin Span Bridge or I-10 West to I-55 North.
Stay with WWL Louisiana for more information as it develops.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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