Rush hour on the Southside of San Antonio is at a crawl Thursday evening as first responders handle a vehicle fire. Both directions of Loop 410 near Somerset Road are completely shut down, leaving drivers lined up on the access road.
“There is a major accident on SW Loop 410, near Somerset. Both main lanes going East and Westbound are shut down,” the San Antonio Police Department said in a statement. “Please avoid the area and take an alternative route. Heavy traffic and congestion [are] expected in this area.”
According to the Texas Department of Transportation, a vehicle fire in the eastbound lanes of Loop 410 near Somerset Road was confirmed at 3:25 p.m. Live traffic cameras show emergency crews blocking the highway and pushing drivers onto the access road.
It’s created quite the traffic jam. Traffic cameras show cars lined up bumper-to-bumper for miles past Somerset Road in both directions. Eastbound drivers are at a halt from Old Pearsall Road past Somerset, and westbound drivers are stopped east of Highway 16 all the way to Somerset Road.
Details are scant on what happened, and it’s unclear when the scene may be cleared. But with police warning drivers to seek an alternate route and rush hour traffic quickly piling up, it may be several more hours before traffic moves freely again along Loop 410 on the Southside.