What Exactly Happened on the Mid-Hudson Bridge Last Night?

Commuters witnessed one of the most confusing traffic jams in Hudson Valley history yesterday after a tractor trailer and a motorhome the size of a coach bus collided on the entrance ramp to the Mid-Hudson Bridge.

The on-ramp, located on southbound Route 9 in Poughkeepsie, NY has already witnessed some less-than-stellar driving this month. Most recently, a rash of illegal U-turns nearly caused several accidents at the very same location... but what exactly happened last night?

Tractor Trailer vs. Motorhome at the Mid-Hudson Bridge

"Mid-Hudson Bridge: Heavy traffic both directions due to blocked Route 9 South on-ramp. Expect delays, seek alternative route", read a post from the New York State bridge Authority (NYSBA). The simple statement belied the complexity of the accident (below).

Confusing Accident on the Mid-Hudson Bridge in Poughkeepsie, NY

From Route 9, it was difficult to tell exactly what had occurred (above). Traffic was backed up nearly a half-mile, and vehicles were forced to either continue south to cross the Hudson River at the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge or take a dizzying combination of exits and U-turns to eventually end up on 44-55 (below).

While the resulting traffic was a headache for many drivers, so was the mystery of the accident itself. Since there seemed to be no injuries from the collision, the Hudson Valley put on their collective detective hats to try and deduce what had actually happened.

Theories on Tractor Trailer Accident on the Mid-Hudson Bridge Ramp

"A huge camper bus hit a tractor trailer on the south bound entrance to the bridge. Looks like the camper tried to go around the truck, only the truck stopped", theorized one commenter. "No. Tractor trailer took the curve too short and went up the guard rail. Bus was the casualty", came a contradicting answer. "I heard that a tractor trailer was the initial accident... A camper trailer then tried to go around the tractor trailer and got stuck", said another.

The small silver lining of the collision is that the bottleneck traffic headed westbound across the Mid-Hudson Bridge meant that the commute home on the other side other Hudson River was significantly quicker. Luckily, the truck was cleared from the ramp in roughly an hour and traffic soon returned to normal. Still, the mystery of what actually happened remains...