Semi Rollover Dumps Bricks Across I-290 in Itasca, Shuts Down Both Directions

A semi hauling concrete bricks rolled over on Interstate 290 westbound at Thorndale Avenue in Itasca, spilling its load across the expressway and knocking down a light pole. The wreck forced Illinois State Police to shut down both eastbound and westbound lanes of the Eisenhower Expressway, and multiple vehicles sustained major damage in the chaos that followed.

Illinois State Police reported that the semi rolled over and spilled concrete bricks onto I-290 westbound at Thorndale, according to NBC 5 Chicago. Debris, including piles of bricks and the downed light pole, was scattered across the roadway, and troopers advised drivers to seek an alternate route while crews worked to clear the scene.

Traffic Backs Up on Both Sides of the Ike

With both directions of the Eisenhower closed in Itasca, traffic quickly built up in the area. The Total Traffic & Weather Network reported big delays and solid traffic on the outbound side near Irving Park Road, as well as on the inbound side between Route 390 and the Veterans Memorial Tollway, per the outlet's report.

The interchange where the crash happened is one of the busiest freight corridors in the western suburbs. It was reconfigured with elevated flyover ramps connecting I-290 to Illinois Route 390 as part of the $3.4 billion Elgin O'Hare Western Access Project, according to the Journal & Topics. Thorndale Avenue itself was later split into North and South frontage roads running parallel to Route 390 as part of that same tollway expansion, per the Illinois Tollway.

Why Loose Cargo Turns Into a Multi-Car Pileup

Illinois law requires that no vehicle be driven on a highway unless its load is secured to prevent cargo from dropping, shifting, or escaping, and violating that rule is a Class A misdemeanor under the Illinois Vehicle Code's Section 15-109, according to the Illinois General Assembly. Federal cargo securement rules go further, requiring tie-down systems on commercial trailers to withstand significant deceleration forces and mandating that longer loads carry enough restraints to equal at least half the cargo's weight, per federal regulations tracked in the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations.

National research helps explain why a single spilled load can damage so many vehicles at once. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has found that road debris — including loose cargo like the bricks spilled in Itasca — contributes to more than 50,000 police-reported crashes, nearly 10,000 injuries, and 125 deaths nationwide each year. Roughly 37 percent of those crashes happen when drivers swerve suddenly to avoid the debris, often triggering the kind of chain-reaction collisions reported on I-290, according to research cited by Claims Journal.

A Familiar Trouble Spot for the Eisenhower

DuPage County, where Itasca sits, has repeatedly ranked among the top five deadliest Illinois counties for traffic collisions, recording 34 fatal crashes in a single recent statewide reporting period, according to data compiled by Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. Statewide, tractor-trailers are involved in more than 11,700 crashes every year, and major DuPage expressways are frequently flagged as high-risk corridors because of heavy commercial truck traffic and frequent lane merging, per an analysis from John J. Malm & Associates.

The Itasca rollover adds to a run of serious I-290 incidents this year that Hoodline has tracked across the region, including a fatal crash that shut down the outbound Eisenhower near Broadview and a pre-dawn crash that left cars in flames near Ashland. It was not immediately clear how long crews needed to clear the spilled bricks and repair the damaged light pole before reopening all lanes, and NBC 5 Chicago noted its report would be updated as more information becomes available.