What started as a stalled vehicle quickly became a long backup that lasted for more than three hours on the Iowa-bound lanes of Interstate 74.
The stalled vehicle, and emergency vehicles that responded, blocked the right lane on the bridge at about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 7, 2014.
Police said a dump truck lost a large load of gravel on the bridge.
The backup for Iowa-bound traffic quickly became solid back past Avenue of the Cities. Police were also investigating a crash that happened in the backup, near Avenue of the Cities.
Traffic was allowed to travel on the left lane of the bridge, past emergency vehicles, as the right lane was blocked until about 11:45 a.m., when crews moved over to block the left lane as they worked to collect the dumped gravel and haul it away.
Crews were allowing one lane of Iowa-bound traffic travel on the bridge, and occasionally blocked all lanes of Iowa-bound traffic as heavy equipment continued to clear gravel.
All lanes of the bridge appeared to be open just after 2 p.m. The backup was slowly clearing. Traffic remained slow back past Avenue of the Cities.
