SANDERS — Eastbound Interstate 40 reopened Wednesday morning after a crash briefly shut the lanes in Sanders, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.
ADOT first reported the closure shortly after 7:20 a.m., saying the eastbound lanes were closed because of a crash at milepost 341 near Ortega Road. The agency told drivers to expect delays and to find another route, and said at the time there was no estimate for when the lanes would reopen.
The westbound lanes of I-40 were not affected by the closure, according to the department.
In a follow-up release issued about 30 minutes later, around 7:51 a.m., ADOT announced that the eastbound lanes had reopened.
ADOT did not say how many vehicles were involved in the crash or whether anyone was hurt, and no other agency had released details about the cause as of midmorning Wednesday.
Sanders is a small community in Apache County in northeastern Arizona, on I-40 not far from the New Mexico state line. The interstate is a major east-west corridor for freight and traveler traffic crossing the high desert between Flagstaff, Holbrook and western New Mexico.
Even a short closure on that stretch can delay trucks and other traffic, because drivers have few nearby freeway alternatives.
ADOT reminds drivers that real-time highway conditions are available on the Arizona Traveler Information site at az511.gov, through the AZ511 app for Apple and Android devices, or by calling 511.
Thee Arizona Times will update this story if the Arizona Department of Public Safety, which typically investigates crashes on state highways, releases more information.
Sources: Arizona Department of Transportation news release. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: Matt Howard / CC0 via Wikimedia Commons.
