An oil tanker crash and oil spill closed northbound Interstate 17 about one mile south of Table Mesa Road in New River on Thursday morning. (Source: CBS 5 News)

Sedona AZ (June 26, 2014) – The Arizona Department of Transportation advised that an oil tanker rollover and oil spill will close northbound Interstate 17 one mile south of Table Mesa Road in New River this morning.

Drivers traveling from Phoenix to northern Arizona destinations such as Flagstaff will need to use alternate routes through Prescott or Payson and plan for extended travel times, an ADOT spokesman said.

The Prescott route involves using U.S. Highway 60 from Phoenix to Wickenburg, where drivers will turn onto U.S. 93 until reaching State Route 89. Once taking SR 89 into Prescott, drivers can take SR 69 to Dewey, and then SR 169 to return to I-17.

The Payson route involves taking SR 87 from the Mesa or Fountain Hills area. About 20 miles north of Payson, drivers will turn northwest on SR 260 to return to I-17 in Camp Verde.

Drivers should expect extra traffic on either of these alternate routes today due to the I-17 closure.

A hazardous materials crew is working to clean up the spill.

The truck’s driver drifted toward another truck and over corrected, said Bart Graves of the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

An Arizona Department of Transportation spokesman said the tanker had rolled onto its side and spilled the oil about 4:00 in the morning. The tanker had spun and was facing oncoming traffic after the crash.

Traffic was backed up for miles, stranding many motorists in their vehicles.

Southbound traffic was not affected, the spokesman said.

No other information was immediately available including the condition of the driver.

News sources Arizona Department of Transportation, Arizona Department of Public Safety and CBS 5 news.

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