Route 3 in Billerica closed in both directions after tanker truck crash

BILLERICA – Route 3 in Billerica will be shut down for hours after a tanker truck crashed, rolled over and started leaking fuel Wednesday. Massachusetts State Police said that section of the highway will be closed for the “foreseeable future.”

Several vehicles were involved in the crash in the northbound lanes just before 10 a.m.. The tanker was carrying “several thousand gallons of fuel,” police said.

Traffic on both sides of the highway between Treble Cove Road and Route 129 has been shut down for the cleanup and investigation. The ramps from Route 495 to Route 3 south are also closed.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation said drivers should find other routes because there’s no estimate when the highway will reopen.

“Closures on Route 3 northbound may be in place tonight into early tomorrow morning as northbound lane pavement has been damaged and needs to be repaired by MassDOT crews,” MassDOT said in a statement.

There’s no word yet on what caused the crash, but a viewer sent dashboard camera video of it to WBZ-TV. It showed a sedan and a pickup truck collided in the left lane and the pickup then slammed into the tanker, causing it to roll over.

“The driver of the tanker and the driver of one of the other vehicles involved sustained minor injuries,” State Police said.

Northbound traffic is being detoured off at exit 78 and the southbound side at exit 79. 

No other information is available at this point in the investigation.