Rollover semitruck crash to result in closure of eastbound I-96 April 18

NOVI — A rollover semitruck crash that occurred at around 1:25 a.m April 18 will result in the closure of eastbound Interstate 96 near Beck Road this evening.

“In a nutshell, a semitruck driver lost control and went off into the ditch,” said 1st Lt. Mike Shaw, of the Michigan State Police. “No other vehicles were involved and no injuries.”

The truck is now lying on its side in the ditch, Shaw said. 

The freeway will be shut down from 6:30 p.m. April 18 to 3 a.m. April 19 to allow for the removal of the semi and other debris from the accident, according to a press release from the Michigan Department of Transportation. It is expected to take around eight hours to flip up the semi and clear the road of the debris, the release stated. 

“They’re going to have to use three or four heavy-duty tow trucks that actually sit on the roadway itself and pull the truck back up and out of the ditch. So, for the safety of the tow truck drivers and the motoring public, they’ll close the roadway till they get that done,” Shaw said.

According to Diane Cross, of MDOT, the truck was carrying groceries. In order for the truck to be flipped upright and removed from the scene, she said the load has to be emptied out into another truck and the area where the truck landed has to be picked up.   

“The guardrail is going to make it a complicated tow,” Cross said in an email. 

Another complicating factor is that the truck leaked diesel fuel as a result of the crash, which will also need to be cleaned up. 

“That may have to wait for a future date, depending on what we see after the truck is removed,” she said.

Officials won’t know the extent of the leak until they remove the truck.

Novi police suggested Grand River Avenue as an alternate route.

To get updated information on the status of the closure, go to Michigan.gov/drive and @MDOT_MetroDet on X, formerly Twitter.