I-35 reopens after overnight wreck

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A stretch of Interstate 35 just south of Downtown finally reopened after noon on Friday after being closed through the morning rush because of an overnight crash between two 18-wheelers.

The big rigs collided around 11 p.m. Thursday in the 1000 block of the freeway near Riverside Drive. Traffic stacked up well north of Downtown for several hours. (See first video above.)

The Austin Police Department said a truck heading north on I-35 lost control and crossed the median. It then hit the trailer of another 18-wheeler heading south on I-35 carrying car batteries.

Emergency crews shut down the main lanes of the interstate on the side heading south from Cesar Chavez Street to Riverside Drive as they work to clean up spilled battery acid and car fluids.

Police said a private HAZMAT crew has to pick up each battery and inspect it. 

No one was injured in the wreck.

Police were still investigating what caused the truck to lose control