A forklift detached from a tow truck and slammed into a bridge structure inside Hubbard's Cave just after 8 a.m. Wednesday, spilling battery acid across southbound Interstate 90 and forcing the closure of multiple lanes during the morning commute. The crash happened at Hubbard Street, in the quarter-mile tunnel where I-90 and I-94 run beneath city streets, rail tracks and parking structures on Chicago's West Side.
Illinois State Police confirmed the forklift came loose while the tow truck was hauling it along the Kennedy Expressway, sending the equipment into the bridge and spilling battery acid onto the highway, according to NBC Chicago. State police said no injuries were reported, and the middle and right southbound lanes at Hubbard Street were shut down for cleanup, per CBS News. How long the lanes would remain closed, and exactly when cleanup crews would finish, was not immediately clear.
The response laid bare a split between agencies over just how serious the spill was. Illinois State Police characterized the situation as not a hazmat incident, but the Chicago Fire Department and the City of Chicago both reported it as a Level 1 HazMat situation. The fire department's Level 1 HazMat designation is its most minimal hazmat call, according to the report.
A Tunnel With a Troubled Recent History
Wednesday's crash is far from the first time a heavy load has caused chaos inside Hubbard's Cave. In a separate incident, a semi-truck carrying scrap metal struck an overpass on I-90 near West Grand Avenue in the same tunnel, wedging a metal beam between the bridge and the roadway and causing delays of up to two hours, CBS News reported. In November 2024, a 54-year-old highway construction worker operating an aerial lift in Hubbard's Cave was killed when a passing semi-trailer struck the lift in a hit-and-run, according to FOX 32 Chicago.
Hubbard's Cave itself is a quarter-mile-long, multi-level tunnel carrying I-90 and I-94 under city streets, rail tracks and parking structures in West Town, with more than 325,000 travelers passing through daily, per One Meade. That volume makes the stretch one of downtown Chicago's most heavily traveled bottlenecks, and it means even a contained spill like Wednesday's can ripple into severe rush-hour gridlock across the inbound Kennedy Expressway.
Cargo Laws and Inspection Rules Come Into Focus
The incident puts a spotlight on Illinois statutes governing commercial hauling. Under 625 ILCS 5/15-109, vehicle operators on public highways are barred from driving with unsecured cargo, and flatbed truck drivers who fail to properly secure heavy loads can face Class A misdemeanor charges, according to the Illinois General Assembly.
Same Corridor, Fresh Off a $169 Million Overhaul
The crash lands in a corridor that just underwent a major rebuild. In October 2025, the Illinois Department of Transportation completed a three-year, $169 million rehabilitation of the Kennedy Expressway between the Edens Expressway junction and Ohio Street, Hoodline previously reported on a fatal crash along the same stretch. Contractor Meade Inc. also installed 287 LED light fixtures inside Hubbard's Cave between 2023 and 2024 under an IDOT contract aimed at improving interior visibility for motorists, according to One Meade.
IDOT traffic counts show the Kennedy Expressway corridor carries between 275,000 and 400,000 vehicles daily. That scale means even a spill that state police said was not a hazmat incident can translate into widespread metropolitan gridlock the moment lanes go dark for cleanup.
