A metropolitan traffic jam in the windy west

Never got published, but was quite the experience...

Rawlins Daily Times, Janice Kurbjun

A mile from Walcott Junction on Interstate 80, traffic just about stopped due to road damage caused by Monday’s truck fire. When the road reopened for westbound travel at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, the highway’s truck and car volume resembled Colorado’s Interstate 70 on a wintery Saturday morning.

Rawlins Daily Times, Janice Kurbjun

The skeletal remains of a semi-truck were parked in the median of Interstate 80 near Walcott Junction on Tuesday. The truck caught fire on Monday, forcing westbound traffic to halt so firefighters could arrive on scene. Heat from the flames melted the frame to the asphalt, causing road damage that slowed traffic Tuesday afternoon when the highway reopened.