It is not uncommon for traffic in the center of Newtown to become congested after an incident creates backups on I-84.

With three exit interchanges along the eight miles of the highway that runs through town, when traffic needs to move around something on the interstate, it is not uncommon for local roads to quickly become congested.

Most often the backups last for an hour or so. But a crash on I-84 East early Tuesday morning created 12 hours of delays and backups on both the interstate and nearby secondary roads. While firefighters and ambulance personnel were able to leave the area two hours after a tractor-trailer truck went down an embankment July 18, cleanup crews were on the scene for another ten hours.

Connecticut State Police (CSP) report Sukhvinder Singh, 26, of Fresno, Calif., was operating a 2023 Freightliner tractor-trailer on the interstate around 2 am when it went off the left side of the road between the Exit 11 on-ramp and the Bancroft Road overpass, and then rolled down a steep embankment.

Singh was uninjured, but the careening vehicle took down approximately 500 feet of wire guardrail before landing on its passenger side.

Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue and Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps initially responded to the crash, in addition to CSP troopers.

In addition to checking Singh for injuries, responders reported a diesel spill from the truck’s saddle tank. The spill contaminated soil and a nearby brook, prompting DEEP, DOT, and Consumer Protection to be called to the scene, according to the CSP report.

According to DEEP Media Relations Manager Paul Copleman, the state agency used booms, pads, and a vacuum truck “in an effort to contain and collect any spilled diesel in the brook and at the scene.”

Copleman said the truck’s saddle tank had a 50-gallon capacity. The agency was unsure, he said July 20, how much spilled.

Copleman confirmed to The Newtown Bee Thursday morning that DEEP workers were on scene for more than 12 hours on Tuesday. There are still booms in the brook, he added. “As the plan currently stands,” he said, crews will return to assess and collect them on Friday.

While cleanup was underway on Tuesday, the high speed lane of I-84 East was closed, which quickly led to the slowdowns and then extended delays. By mid-afternoon, I-84 East was very slow for 10+ miles, at times back to Exit 7 in Danbury.

In Newtown, increased delays were experienced. Traffic first began backing up when I-84 drivers left the limited access highway at Exit 10, and used Church Hill Road (Route 6) to navigate to Southbury, where they could return to the interstate.

Initial buildup began growing on Church Hill at the eastern signaled intersection of the highway overpass. It spread into Sandy Hook Center, at the four-way intersection with Washington Avenue, Riverside Road and Glen Road. Others went the more scenic route, traveling down Schoolhouse Hill Road to Walnut Tree Hill Road, emerging near the Silver Bridge and continuing into Southbury.

As the day went on, people began using earlier exits to leave I-84 and try to circumnavigate the growing highway slowdown. Traffic began backing up further on Church Hill Road after travelers began leaving the interstate at Exit 9 in Hawleyville, many then picking up Route 25 and then Route 6, trying to make up time.

Others took the Currituck Road route from Hawleyville, which led to additional problems. Mid-afternoon Tuesday, a Peter Pan bus driver was unable to move from the intersection of Hall Lane and Hanover Road after the rear of the bus bottomed out on the road and got stuck. Two police officers had to divert traffic around that while a heavy duty wrecker was called to winch the vehicle from its wedged position.

Soon after, a tractor trailer truck tried to navigate over Currituck Road, creating another traffic jam when it was unable navigate a tight turn without police assistance.

It could have been worse. While drivers in Newtown on Tuesday contended with massive backups much of the day, at least they were not driving through human waste.

Less than two hours before the crash in Sandy Hook, CSP troopers in lower Fairfield County had their own mess after a 2017 Mack semi leaked an unsecured load of human waste on I-95 North in Bridgeport around 11 pm Monday, July 17.

That truck, being operated by Shaky Steevenson Joseph, 34, of Waterbury, then left the interstate and traveled on local streets before entering and traveling on Route 8 North before stopping.

The spill led to multiple motor vehicle accidents, including one where a different tractor trailer traveling on I-95 lost control and crashed into two unoccupied CSP cruisers being used by troopers responding to other collisions caused by the spill.

There were no injuries reported in any of the related crashes, according to the CSP reports.

Joseph was reportedly aware of the leaking waste. He was arrested and charged with operating a vehicle with an unsecured load, reckless driving, and 12 counts of reckless endangerment-first degree.

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Managing Editor Shannon Hicks can be reached at shannon@thebee.com.