Northwest Indiana- The Indiana State Police Lowell Post and the Indiana Department of Transportation: Northwest is asking for the media’s assistance in a travel advisory. Travel is being discouraged on I-94 eastbound towards Michigan and into Michigan.
Troopers are currently on scene of a rollover tanker on I-94 at the 24.2 mile-marker (Burns Harbor exit). This is a hazardous material situation requiring offload of the contents, Sodium Hydroxide, prior to the vehicle being removed and the roadway reopened. There is no timetable for this event to be completed.
In addition, I-94 is currently closed in Michigan at exit 4 (Niles, MI). From our understanding, it is due to numerous crashes and weather that they have experienced and continue to navigate. Our concern in Indiana is if traffic backs up into Indiana, which could result in motorists becoming stranded in arctic temperatures, creating an extremely dangerous situation for everyone. We have not been made aware of when I-94 in Michigan may reopen, but we don’t anticipate it being anytime soon.
Finally, troopers are working active crash scenes on I-65 and I-94, observing vehicles that are failing to slow down, even witnessing spinouts and crashes. Lowell has already had one trooper struck today and Indianapolis has had 3 struck today while working at crash scenes. Motorists are failing to use care while driving compounding the dangerous road conditions. Again, please delay any nonessential travel in Northwest Indiana.