Caltrans closes lane, lifts up big rig on Hwy 99 after collision, backup in Merced County

A non-injury collision involving two big rigs on Highway 99 snarled commuter traffic in Atwater on Tuesday morning, traffic officials said.

The collision occurred when a big rig on the southbound shoulder of the highway was hit by another big rig at about 3:45 a.m. at the Atwater Expressway exit, CHP Merced Officer Eric Zuniga said.

The collision backed up traffic about four miles, to the Applegate Road exit, according to a Caltrans tweet.

Caltrans is closed the southbound slow lane of traffic between 9:30 and 11:45 a.m. to lift out one of the big rigs that had traveled down the embankment off the right hand shoulder after the collision, Zuniga said.

This story was originally published February 12, 2019 at 9:15 AM.