UPDATE @ 7:31 p.m.: The RTA bus stuck in a hole in a construction zone in the southbound lanes of South Smithville Road has been freed and the street has been reopened to traffic.
Englewood Towing and Recovery, called by RTA, used a 60-ton rotator (a portable crane on wheels) to lift the bus and put it on a trailer, said Matt Bartlett, operations manager. The entire operation took about 40 minutes, he said.
UPDATE @ 5:55 p.m.: RTA brought in one its heavy duty vehicles to pull the bus out of the hole, but failed.
Sandy’s Towing has been dispatched to bring one of its heavy duty wreckers to lift the bus out.
The south lanes of South Smithville Road, near Linden Avenue, remain closed.
FIRST REPORT
An RTA bus is stuck in the southbound lane of South Smithville Road, near Linden Avenue, after finding its way into the dug-out section of a construction zone.
Passengers have been moved to another bus and police have closed the southbound lanes until further notice. The northbound lanes of South Smithville Road remain open at 5 p.m.
The incident occurred just before 5 p.m.
There are no reports of any injuries.
There is a heavy-duty RTA vehicle on scene. Officials have not made any comment about how they intend to extricate the bus from the construction zone.
We will update this report as information becomes available.
