Truck crashes into newly opened D Street underpass

After nearly one and a half years of construction, a delegation of Idaho Falls officials were on hand to cut a ribbon and open the D Street underpass on Yellowstone Highway at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

At around 9:20 a.m., the underpass was inaugurated by an oversized truck that crashed into the structure.

The underpass was clearly marked for 12 foot high trucks.Idaho Falls police said the truck that crashed into the structure measured 13′ 6″.

Mitch Anderson, who works at Oswald Service near the underpass, said he was helping a customer outside the auto shop when he saw the crash.

“I just turned and I was like, ‘Really? Already?’ You know, I can’t believe,” said Anderson.

“I had a customer stop in just this morning and he was saying, ‘You know, Kevin, it would be a good promotion to take bets on when the first accident’s going to happen in the underpass,” said Kevin Oswald.

Hours after the crash, the city of Idaho Falls sent out a press release reminding motorists to adhere to the underpass’ 12-foot clearance.

“A lot of people are gonna see that underpass and they’re gonna go, ‘You know, it’s a brand new underpass. My vehicle will fit underneath it. Everything will be great,’ and just bomb underneath it and find out that that’s not the case,” said Oswald.

The truck was towed away and the roadway had reopened to traffic by 10:15 a.m. after engineers conducted an assessment of the underpass.

Idaho Falls police said the driver of the truck, 31-year-old Ryan Blatter of Idaho Falls, has been cited for inattentive driving.

Meridian-based Diamond Line Delivery, which owns the truck, did not return a call seeking comment.