I-95 fully reopened northbound at Emerson after diesel fuel spill clean-up Wednesday morning

UPDATE 9:10 a.m. - The Florida Highway Patrol reports the roadway has been fully reopened, but traffic backed up for as much as 8 miles will still result in delays.

UPDATE 9 a.m. - The Florida Highway Patrol reports that the closed lanes remain blocked, with no ETA as to when the highway will be fully reopened.

UPDATE 8:35 a.m. - The Florida Highway Patrol said rush hour is likely to be over before the highway is fully reopened, but could not say exactly when that will occur. A "significant" amount of diesel fuel is still be removed from the roadway, according to a Highway Patrol duty officer.

UPDATE 8:15 a.m. - The Florida Highway Patrol reports that the northbound center and right lanes remain blocked.

A chain reaction of accidents that began about 1:30 a.m. on northbound Interstate 95 at Emerson Street near downtown Jacksonville is expected to have traffic snarled in the area until at least 8 a.m. No serious injuries have been reported.

The Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Department and the Florida Highway Patrol is warning motorists to find either alternate routes or expect delays until a half mile-long diesel spill from the earlier accident is cleared. Only one lane of travel is expected to be open until at least 8 a.m.

The trouble began when a gold Mercury Grand Marquis driven by Nigel Hilliard, 34, of Jacksonville broke down while north on I-95 and pulled into the left shoulder. A northbound yellow box truck in the left lane clipped the rear of the Grand Marquis, causing minor injuries to Hilliard. The box truck, driven by Charles E. Slattery, 63, of Edgewater, then struck the concrete median, knocking over two light poles that are being used for construction in the area. Slattery was not injured.

One of the poles fell into the northbound lanes and was run over by a northbound tractor trailer, puncturing the semi's fuel tank. That driver, Steven Bryant, 55, of Shelbyville, Tenn., was not injured.

The second pole fell into southbound lanes and struck a black Nissan Altima driven by Frashni Kristjan, 25, of Jacksonville. A white Toyota behind the Nissan collided with that light pole. Neither the Toyota driver, Keith C. Hoffman, 37, of Washington, D.C., nor Kristjan were injured.

A second collision occurred when a southbound white Jeep swerved to avoid the light pole and was struck by a tractor trailer. The name of that driver was not available.

Southbound traffic was snarled until about 4:30 a.m. when the accident was cleared on that side of the roadway.

The diesel spill from the initial chain of events covered a 1/2 mile area. Crews from the Florida Department of Transportation have been cleaning the spill. 

Police say that motorists should expect travel times into downtown along I-95 north to be nearly an hour longer than usual.

Read jacksonville.com for updates