The Island’s main arterial needed bypass surgery, so to speak, after a delivery truck flipped on the Island Highway Thursday.
The crash happened just south of the Duke Point interchange at about 3:30 p.m. when a five-tonne cube van, driven southbound by a 20-year-old man from Brentwood Bay, veered off the road to the right and hit a steel lamp standard, police said.
The driver then over-corrected his steering and hit the concrete centre median, causing the van to flip into the air and land on its side in the northbound lanes.
No other vehicles were involved, the driver was not injured, but was taken to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital for observation.
Debris from the lamp standard and cement barriers blocked much of the four lanes for about 90 minutes and traffic had to be rerouted along alternate routes.
Police are looking at driver fatigue as a probable cause for the crash and the investigation is continuing.