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A six-mile stretch of Texas 36 was closed much of Tuesday as crews cleaned more than 2,500 gallons of methanol that spilled from a tanker truck onto the road between Davidson and Lyons.
Burleson County officials said they closed the road after a tanker truck hit a guardrail and flipped on its side Tuesday afternoon, spilling methanol onto the road and near a creek.
Police said the truck driver was unharmed.
"We arrived soon enough to get a blockade put down near the creek," said Bob Colwell, a Texas Department of Transportation spokesman. "I don't think any of the liquid got into the water. It is extremely flammable stuff, though, so we are taking all the necessary precautions."
Police said they blocked off the section of Texas 36 from F.M. 976 to F.M. 60, and began rerouting traffic around the accident. The 15-mile detour forced motorists south down F.M. 60 to F.M. 976, and then back up to the intersection at Texas 36, just southeast of Davidson.
Local businesses in Lyons at the southeast end of the blockade said the wreck quieted the streets.
"With the roadblocks ... we have barely seen any traffic come through this way," said Mike Shirley, owner of Lyons Grocery. "I can walk out of my store and see the blockade. They have been letting a few people in to get home, and an ambulance and police, but other than that, we haven't seen anybody."
Methanol is a simple form of alcohol that is used in antifreeze, formaldehyde and certain types of fuel, including biodiesel.
Tuesday's accident was the second in less than a week to shut down a portion of Texas 36. On Thursday, about 4,000 gallons of jet fuel spilled in the right-of-way after the driver of a tanker truck fell asleep and flipped the vehicle, spilling the fuel when it crashed between Texas 21 in Caldwell and U.S. 79 in Milam County, officials said.
• Travis Measley's e-mail address is travis.measley@theeagle.com.
