Crews Hope To Have 401 Fully Open By Monday – But There Are No Guarantees

It was another mess on the 401 near the DVP-404 ramp Friday, but at least it was a slightly better mess.

Experts had worked all day and all night to shore up a bridge badly damaged by a devastating truck fire the day before. Two right lanes on the scorched structure were reopened for the morning rush but the ramp from the westbound express lanes remains shut down and likely will be all weekend.

The westbound 401 collector lanes are also off limits. And the westbound 401 collector ramp to the 404-DVP is down to one lane only.

There’s still a lot left to do before things can be considered ‘back to normal.’ Still, it could have been worse.

“There was quite a bit of damage because of the intense heat from the fire, but our engineers are confident that we don’t have to knock the whole bridge down and replace it completely,” advises the MTO’s Will Mackenzie. “But we do have quite a bit of work.”

Will it be ready for the first rush hour of next week? “We are hoping by Monday, sometime Monday, to be able to open at least one lane on the ramp from the 401 westbound express to 404 northbound Don Valley Parkway southbound,” Mackenzie outlines.

The truck, carrying a load of paper and Styrofoam, burned so hot and so long, it destroyed the rig and badly damaged the roadway. The driver suffered second degree burns to his arms and legs but has now been released from hospital.  
 
But in all the tragedy, there was some glory. A hero has emerged in the story of how the victim got out alive. It turns out a Miller dump truck driver named Jeremy Hodder was on the scene seconds after the crash.

Despite the intense heat and flames, he managed to carry the badly wounded man away from the burning rig, likely saving his life.

His boss was effusive in his praise. “At this time I would personally like to thank Jeremy for his heroism, it makes me very proud to have him as a member of the Miller team,” company president Leo McArthur proclaimed in a statement.

But while Hodder is certainly considered a hero for his actions and the work of crews fixing the road has been nothing short of miraculous, inconvenienced drivers still aren’t happy.

“It’s taking a lot of time to get to work. Absolutely,” one grumbles.

“I’m very disappointed in the 404. You know, I got to get to work,” another concludes.

Police are still probing the cause of the accident and suspect either excessive speed, driver fatigue or both may be to blame. There’s no word yet on charges against the injured driver.