A picture of the overturned lorry by local photographer Brady Rackham

Update: A14 closed by onion spill reopens - only to be closed 18 minutes later by second crash

Lizzie Parry Wednesday, October 3, 2012
3:41 PM

A STRETCH of the A14 closed when a lorry shed its load of onions reopened today for 18 minutes before another crash forced its closure.

Queuing traffic on the A14 at Seven Hills follwing a second crash

A 50-tonne vehicle is understood to have flipped over in the westbound carriageway close to the Shell garage at Nacton, around 500 yards before the Orwell Bridge at 6.50am.

The accident closed both carriageways for around seven-and-a-half hours while the vegetables were cleared and the lorry recovered.

A Suffolk police spokesman said the road was reopened at 2.42pm.

But he said officers have been forced to close both carriageways again after three lorries collided close to the Seven Hills roundabout in the westbound carriageway.

It is understood at least one of the vehicles has gone through the central reservation.

Paramedics and firefighters were also called to the scene as two men are trapped in separate vehicles.

There injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

Closing three lanes of the Orwell Bridge earlier left the town centre in gridlock with delays across the road network.

The police spokesman warned those queues are likely to return following the second accident.

There were reports of slow traffic along Felixstowe Road, Landseer Road and Colchester Road as a result of the three-lane closure on the bridge.

Meanwhile, Wherstead Road traffic inched towards the town centre as diverted motorists attempt to find alternative routes off the A14.

Roadworks in the one-way system at Fore Street, and at the Civic Drive roundabout exacerbated problems.

- Have you been affected? Call the newsdesk on 01473 324788.

- Did you see the accident? Send your pictures to www.iwitness24.co.uk

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15 comments

Seven and a half hour to clear a bunch of onions and straighten a lorry. Not bad !

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TOBY P.

Thursday, October 4, 2012
At least when all the roadworks in Ipswich have finished, all the traffic diverted through the town will pass through hassle free!

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Willy Warner

Wednesday, October 3, 2012
One - I don't like onions with burgers, ChrisG Two - I don't think that people should laugh about onions Three - When will we get a team of people dedicated to keeping the A14 open, considering that the road is the lifeblood of this area? Four - taking hours (I don't know how many) to clear a load of onions is ridiculous - business hours lost, clients left waiting, people stranded, appointments missed, and truckers miffed. Five - Build a Tesco in Walton (that'll stir people up if the rotten state of the A14 doesn't).

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cwayconslt

Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Is this driver taking a picture whilst driving? WOW that was helpful

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an idea

Wednesday, October 3, 2012
The A14 is fast becoming Suffolk's M25, a gridlocked joke! Oops - I shouldn't have used A14 and 'fast' in the same sentence.

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Tractorboy

Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Once again Ipswich has come to a standstill this morning,what would we do if we had a major incident? It took me an hour to get back from the hospital today.could the powers that be not think about more traffic light systems on the other routes when there is a problem on the a12a14 roads that way hopefully drivers would not have to push their way in just to keep moving? I alone saw quite a few motorists having to push forwards because other drivers were not being courteous to others.also I found the better road to travel on was in fact the civic drive area,so what does that tell you!

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mamamia

Wednesday, October 3, 2012
And...the Evening Star needs to get its facts right with regards vehicle weights instead of plucking random figures out the air.

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BigAzz

Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Cant believe it has taken this long to get cleared! no deaths or anything, its a joke. What the hell is wrong with our authorities.

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BigAzz

Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Oh my...this could all end in tears

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Mr DJ

Wednesday, October 3, 2012
They'll be Tears in Ipswich today

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Tim Amass

Wednesday, October 3, 2012
The accident involved a lorry carrying severail tonnes of onions. ........Apparently there are reports of many motorists crying on the hard shoulder.........Boom boom!

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england1770

Wednesday, October 3, 2012
I hope the onions weren't badly injured. I'd hate to think they'd be a vegetable for the rest of their lives.

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Andrew Berry

Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Somewhat irresponsible to encourage motorists to send in photos seeing as they would take them whilst in control of their vehicles surely?!

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helterskelter

Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Wet Dock Crossing already ... Separate the through-traffic from the town centre traffic ... Especially needed considering that the Orwell Bridge is closed or blocked about once a week. Would also generally make getting tofrom the waterfront on foot a lot less like a game of frogger.

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ric@hardacre.org

Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Good job it wasn't a hot day, and there wasn't a simultaneous oil spill - could have required massive supplies of burgers and buns to clear it up!

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ChrisG

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

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