Toll plaza crash leaves turnpike covered in meat

But emergencies are unpredictable. And yesterday, a beef-related truck crash provided the first test of a more liberal strategy in allowing toll amnesty in certain situations to avoid major log-jams on the turnpike. The change was adopted after an Easter Sunday traffic jam so onerous that the governor himself ordered an investigation and policy review.

Yesterday, after State Police gave the go-ahead, almost everyone who drove east on the turnpike during morning rush hour paid nothing at the Weston tolls as workers cleared meat and towed away three tractor-trailers and a Toyota. The toll giveaway probably cost the state tens of thousands of dollars, if not more, but it prevented the widespread problems that have beguiled commuters after other crashes.

“Really it didn’t seem as bad as I thought it was going to be in terms of delays,’’ said Arthur Burns director of operations for SmartRoute Systems, a traffic monitoring firm. “On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d say it was a 5 or 6. It wasn’t horrible. We’ve had a lot worse in the past.’’

At its worst, early-morning rush hour traffic backed up 7 miles from the Weston tollbooths to the Natick service area and spilled onto alternative routes into the city, with Routes 9 and 2 handling much of the overflow, according to Burns. But the most intense tie-ups were calmed by 7:30, even though the cleanup was still underway.

The crash occurred at 2:29 a.m. near the eastbound Weston tolls, set off when a tractor-trailer struck another rig from behind, said Sergeant Matthew Murray of the State Police. A third tractor-trailer and a gray Toyota Corolla then smashed into the second truck, creating a pile-up the required all but two lanes to close down for hours. The tollbooth was hit but not damaged.

One of the trucks, operated by Pennsylvania-based Rodney Horning Trucking Inc., tipped over, and meat came out.

“It’s not like little steaks,’’ said Colin Durrant, a state transportation spokesman and former vegetarian who spent his morning monitoring the cleanup. “It’s like a side of beef the size of my desk. They were large.’’

Professional contractors with heavy equipment were called in to hoist and tow the trucks away and remove the frozen sides of beef. Crews from the Turnpike Authority then salted and sanded the roadway to make sure it was not slippery.

An inspector from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health also surveyed the scene, to declare all 46,549 pounds of beef unsalvageable and then make sure they were taken to an incinerator in Millbury.

Tolls were waived from 6:47 to 9:42 a.m. By then, all seven eastbound toll lanes had reopened.

Before the Easter backups, turnpike officials had to decide when and if to let drivers pass tolls without paying. After the backups, which rocked family reunions around the state, transportation officials revised the rules, allowing State Police to make the decision, with consultation from the Turnpike Authority.

“This was a major incident involving three tractor-trailers and a passenger vehicle that occurred before the morning commute at the busiest toll plaza,’’ Durrant said. “So the decision is made relative to public safety.’’

Under the old policy, drivers last got a free ride on Aug. 31, 2008, after a three-car crash at Interchange 6 near Springfield left a 20-mile backup.

Durrant said the free tolls were only part of the reason traffic did not get out of control yesterday. The timing of the accident - before rush hour - allowed media to alert travelers so they could make plans to avoid the Pike, he said.

Durrant said the Turnpike Authority would submit the bill for the cleanup and the loss of tolls to its insurance company, leaving the carrier responsible for collecting potential damages from the trucking companies.

He could not say what costs were incurred. Typically, 35,000 vehicles pass that toll plaza in the eastern direction on weekdays, mostly during morning rush hour. A driver of a regular car who begins in Western Massachusetts and pays cash could wind up with a bill as high as $3.85 at the Weston booth. A commuter from Framingham who has an electronic Fast Lane pass would owe $1.40. Trucks and buses pay more.

Not every state has to worry about tollbooth related accidents or traffic tie-ups. Increasingly, they are shifting to electronic tolling systems that let drivers pay at highway speed.

The Turnpike Authority has considered such a system, but halted a public bidding process last year because of concerns that it could not afford a system that costs at least $30 million.

“We’ve got to be looking at every new technology but the upfront costs are enormous for that,’’ Durrant said.

Mary Z. Connaughton, a member of the authority’s soon-to-be dissolved board, said the Pike may get new money to invest in technology once it refinances its bonds.

“The turnpike, if it’s going to continue collecting tolls, should catch up with the times and move to high speed tolling technologies where congestion or stopping at tollbooths isn’t an issue,’’ she said.