Lt. Bill Drury of the East Lansing Fire Department watches a Granger garbage truck as it attempts to back out of the sticky situation the driver placed it in. The driver of the truck was taken to Sparrow Hospital after he crashed into the archway of the alley between condominiums on 220 M.A.C. Ave. and CVS Pharmacy, 240 M.A.C. Ave.
Turning from M.A.C. Avenue to the alley between Grand River Avenue and Albert Street, a 41-year-old male garbage truck driver collided with the archway above the alley Monday morning.
The collision damaged the cement blocks and injured the driver, East Lansing police Lt. Tom VanDerWoude said.
The man was transported to Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital and treated for minor injuries, East Lansing Fire Marshall Bob Pratt said.
No one else was injured.
The East Lansing building inspector confirmed the buildings surrounding the alley still are safe to occupy, Pratt said.
CVS Pharmacy, 240 M.A.C. Ave., and the condominiums on 220 M.A.C. Ave. are the two closest buildings to the arch.
“My only thoughts are concerns for the people living there,” said graduate student Cameron Mock, who works near where the accident took place and saw the damage.
Evacuations were not necessary because the building itself still is structurally sound, Pratt said.
Although the buildings are safe, the alley will be closed until repairs are made to the archway as a precaution, he said.
Several blocks of concrete were damaged by the crash, and there is a risk they might fall and damage vehicles or injure pedestrians traveling through the alley, Pratt said.
VanDerWoude said he could not estimate the cost of the damage.
The CVS Pharmacy drive-through also has been closed. It is expected to be open sometime Tuesday morning.
The incident is under investigation, and the driver has not yet been found at fault.
Staff writer Ian Kullgren contributed to this report.
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