The Bankhead Tunnel in downtown Mobile was temporarily shut down Thursday afternoon after a barrel of weed killer fell from a truck and spilled across the roadway, according to Mobile Fire-Rescue.
Hazmat crews were called to the scene to contain and clean up the spill. Responders used Oil-Dri, a clay-based absorbent material, to soak up the herbicide from the tunnel’s lanes. Officials said the crossing would remain closed until the roadway was fully cleared, and they could not immediately estimate how long the cleanup would take.
By early evening, the situation had resolved: ALGO traffic reported just after 5 p.m. that the Bankhead Tunnel had reopened to vehicles.
The Bankhead Tunnel carries Government Street beneath the Mobile River, connecting downtown Mobile with Blakeley Island and routes toward the Eastern Shore. Because it handles only two lanes of westbound traffic, any incident inside the bore quickly backs up approaches on Government Street and pushes drivers toward the parallel George Wallace Tunnel as the primary alternate crossing.