Gravel Truck Crash Makes Morning Commute Rocky

A gravel truck transporting a load of rock through Watsonville on Monday morning crashed at Main Street and Riverside Drive, causing a massive traffic tie-up that impacted area roads for hours, police reported.

The non-injury crash happened around 6:40 a.m. when a bin holding the gravel unhinged from the large truck while the vehicle was northbound on Main Street, Watsonville police Lt. David McCartney said. The box fell, dumping some gravel onto the pavement.

“Somehow or another, it spilled the load it was carrying,” he said. “It was right during the morning commute. It really messed up the commute."

Traffic backed up across the Pajaro River bridge for miles, preventing motorists from North Monterey County from making it into town on time for work. McCartney said even some police officers were late to work because of the crash.

A tow truck was brought in to remove the wrecked truck. Then the gravel—some of it spilled, some still in the container—had to be loaded onto another trailer. The cleanup effort took more than a hour, police said.