Crash closes HWY 14 for hours

A crash Monday morning closed U.S. Highway 14 east of Owatonna after a train hit a truck hauling a load of gravel.
The road was closed for several hours as officers from both the Minnesota Highway Patrol and the National Transportation Safety Board investigated the collision, which was reported about 8:15 a.m.
There were no injuries, according to Sgt. Troy Christianson of the state patrol.
The highway was closed between 44th and 54th Avenues in Steele County; traffic was detoured onto County Road 180 through Havana, then back onto U.S. 14.
Hernan Francisco Rodriguez, 29, of Granada, Minn., was eastbound on Hwy. 14 when the truck he was driving was hit broadside by the train. The trailer came to rest on its side on the west side of the tracks; the cab ended up on the east side.
It’s unclear if the truck is part of the ongoing construction of the Hwy. 14 expansion project.
Crews were also on scene cleaning up the gravel; the train’s tank cars didn’t appear to have been compromised.
Two people in the train, Dustin Stoks, 43, and Andres Moreno, 55, both of Des Moines, Iowa, were also uninjured.
The Canadian Pacific Railroad crossing is one of many that will be closed when the new stretch of the expanded highway opens between Owatonna and Dodge Center. The new road is scheduled to open to traffic on Nov. 1.