Two truck drivers have walked away virtually unscathed from a high-tonnage crash on Mount Ousley Road that severed the roadway and sparked a wide-reaching traffic nightmare.
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Thousands of motorists were caught up in the mammoth snarl, which coincided with the problematic closure of Bulli Pass and created knock-on effects across much of the northern Illawarra.
Lanes in both directions were closed about 10.45am, after a southbound semitrailer jack-knifed near the base of Mount Ousley.
The driver was trapped as the big rig rolled onto its side.
Its trailer slammed onto the jersey barrier and over the northbound lanes, spilling a large amount of soil onto the roadway and collecting a Colorbond Steel semitrailer that was heading up the mountain.
The Colorbond rig pushed a large concrete barrier from the side of the northbound lanes as it came spectacularly unstuck.
It would be six hours before all lanes re-opened.
At their worst, traffic queues stretched for 5kms.
Police managed the flow of traffic around the crash site, prioritising the removal of a semitrailer that was carrying 60 head of cattle when it became caught up on the congestion.
Northbound traffic was backed up to Figtree before motorists were diverted onto the Princes Highway and Memorial Drive – the site of lengthy congestion as the afternoon wore on.
Southbound motorists were diverted onto Mount Pleasant Road.
It took authorities about an hour and 40 minutes to re-open Bulli Pass – currently closed for two months worth of rock stabilisation works – giving stuck motorists an alternative route.
This became the site of fresh jams, which stretched along Lawrence Hargrave Drive to Austinmer.
Two truck drivers – aged 57 and 27 – and a car driver aged 20 were transported to Wollongong Hospital, in a stable condition, suffering only minor injuries.
Bernice Pinfold heard the crash from her Mount Ousley home. She said a passer-by helped to free the trapped truck driver.
“A young guy climbed on top of the truck and had difficulty opening the door. At that stage the brakes were smoking. He stayed there until [the driver] got out. I thought he was really brave.”
The cause of the crash remains under police investigation.