The streets ran red near Lowell, Mass.
Whoa, they built a highway through a cranberry bog? Uh, no. Lowell Massachusetts is in the north central part of the state, miles removed from the bogs of the Cape. The orange hue that coated route 495's northbound lane did make for a colorful nighttime drive, however messy it ended up being. A tractor trailer carrying dye intended for mulch deposited some of its cargo on the highway after the load shifted.
The dye, colored with iron oxide, is generally considered harmless, and a local car wash ended up doing a booming business cleaning the orange schmutz from afflicted cars. The only danger from the spill seemed to be some obscuring of lane markings over the heaviest stretch of the roughly three miles the spill eventually occupied. Not that lane markings mean much to drivers here in Massachusetts, anyway, so that's a non-hazard. Nobody has been cited in the incident, which seems to have been mainly harmless. Some cars got messy, 495 now has a splash of color, and nobody got hurt. There is an insurance hotline to call for drivers affected, though we wonder how many car washes they're willing to pay for. Any residual dye will be gone after Thursday's forecast snow, we're sure.
[Source: Lowell Sun via Carscoop]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ben 11:22AM (4/10/2007)
On Google Maps, the roads are yellow, not red! Someone spill some yellow dye instead!
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cowboy bob 11:37AM (4/10/2007)
Yea, it's funny unless you are the poor sap who got crap all over his car. I have had a similar incident that was supposed to just wash off as well. It didn't. Much work, and some moderate expense was involved in getting my car back to what it was supposed to look like. I also had to finally sue the responsible party to get even partial re-embursment.
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John 9:31AM (4/11/2007)
Drove through there the other day and it wasnt too bad. Can't wait for more snow!
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Pinkerton 12:06PM (4/10/2007)
>> The dye, colored with iron oxide,
>> is generally considered harmless
So the dye is a slurry of ingredients, including liquid rust. That's not something I would want permeating every nook and cranny of my car.
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sk 12:14PM (4/10/2007)
Last month I drove over a view silicone caulk cartridges that were spilled on the road. Some of the cartridges exploded under my cars tires and created a huge mess of silicone splattered all over the rear of the car. This was very hard to get removed and I still have some spots left.
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Kris 1:27PM (4/10/2007)
If you drive in northern Wisconsin, a lot of the roads are similar to this color (though darker and a little more washed out). The land up there has a LOT of red clay, and the pavement is made with local ingredients.
As to what dye does to your car - it could be worse. My company was having the roof of our building tarred and the wind carried droplets into the parking lot. There were small dots all over nearly everyone's vehicle. They brought in a car care center onsite and cleaned all the cars thoroughly. It was a royal pain, and took a couple weeks to get to everyone's vehicle.
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Johnny 1:51PM (4/10/2007)
Looks like something that should be in Maranello.
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chris 3:12PM (4/10/2007)
I like the Target trucks in the picture too. Would fit right in with their ever-so-slightly trippy TV spots
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Tim P 4:52PM (4/10/2007)
I drive this stretch of 495 every day on my way to work. I actually drove through this the morning it happened. I was so pissed. I had just washed my '05 GTO the weekend before. After driving through this mess, I had the red dye all over my car. My wheels looked pink. It came off when I washed it down last weekend, but I know there's still some of it in all kinds of little places I'll never be able to clean unless I rip the car apart.
What really gets me is that I was just about to get off the exit before and take the back roads, but I figured the back roads would be just as backed up. I wanted to see what was causing the traffic, so I drove on. Whoops!!
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AstralSin 9:52PM (4/10/2007)
if this happened in Tennessee, it'd be considered a sign from God and that road would be continually repainted orange :)
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Ryan 10:18PM (4/10/2007)
In response to #8, I actually went Southbound past this on the way to Westboro so I was fortunate enough to know to get off just past Bolton before the mess. It was absolutely crazy and looked every bit as surreal as the pics.
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the dude 5:40AM (4/11/2007)
I'm on the HIIIIGHHWAY TO HELL!
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J. Parker 4:58PM (4/11/2007)
this picture is bullshit. its soo photoshopped!! not real stupid
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MikeW 10:52PM (4/12/2007)
Someone find Hillary Swank.
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