A deadly multi-vehicle accident in Jackson County on Interstate 85 under the Dry Pond Road bridge on Friday morning was cleared up around noon and I-85 reopened.
The Georgia State Patrol confirmed at least one fatality in the southbound wreck, but didn’t have additional details available on the victim.
However, the Georgia Department of Transportation said the accident started from an earlier wreck on I-85 three miles south of the Dry Pond Road (Ga. Hwy. 82) exit.
Deadly wreck cleared by noon Friday
That “fairly simple” accident occurred at 3:30 a.m. and created a back-up of traffic along the interstate, according to DOT spokesperson Teri Pope.
Around 5:30 a.m., a second accident occurred in the back-up traffic from the first accident, she said.
In the second accident, two tractor-trailer trucks, an RV and four passenger vehicles were involved, Pope said. There was one fatality in the accident.
The accident occurred directly under the Dry Pond Road bridge and only caused damage to the guardrails and not the bridge structure, Pope said. DOT crews are repairing the guardrail.
Southbound traffic on I-85 in Jackson County was being reduced Friday morning to one lane and diverted off the Dry Pond Road exit ramp to the interstate entrance ramp and back to I-85, she said. Currently, southbound traffic is backed up about five miles prior to the Dry Pond Road exit.
The northbound lanes are open, although there are onlooker delays.
Of the two tractor-trailer trucks involved, one was carrying potassium hydroxide — which is used to make bleach, Pope said.
That truck didn’t spill any of the hazardous material and didn’t overturn, she added. However, a hazardous materials team from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division is carefully removing the material from the damaged truck to another vehicle.
Around 5:30 a.m., a second accident occurred in the back-up traffic from the first accident, she said.
In the second accident, two tractor-trailer trucks, an RV and four passenger vehicles were involved, Pope said. There was one fatality in the accident.
The accident occurred directly under the Dry Pond Road bridge and only caused damage to the guardrails and not the bridge structure, Pope said. DOT crews are repairing the guardrail.
Southbound traffic on I-85 in Jackson County was being reduced Friday morning to one lane and diverted off the Dry Pond Road exit ramp to the interstate entrance ramp and back to I-85, she said. Currently, southbound traffic is backed up about five miles prior to the Dry Pond Road exit.
The northbound lanes are open, although there are onlooker delays.
Of the two tractor-trailer trucks involved, one was carrying potassium hydroxide — which is used to make bleach, Pope said.
That truck didn’t spill any of the hazardous material and didn’t overturn, she added. However, a hazardous materials team from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division is carefully removing the material from the damaged truck to another vehicle.
Defined tags for this entry: wreck
being towed thru Commerce this morning, my question is
why are the wrecker companies not required to cover
accident vehicles up as they are being towed? Just a
simple tarp would be sufficent, why tow them on the open
road for someone's family member to see as they did today?
What a way to find out seeing a car being towed with
the rear end smashed to the front of the car!
Can someone please answer?
If not for all the cars they pull at least cover the cars up where someone has died. I mean have some common respect for the dead and their familys.
Of these two accidents, which was slowed?
How is a deadly wreck "slowed"? Traffic can slow; the clean-up can be slowed; did the accident occur in slow motion?
The last sentence says there was no spill, so how did the "clean-up" slow anything?
Finally, the last sentence says the GEPD is doing the clean-up but the photo clearly shows the haz-mat clean-up truck (red trailer) from a local business.
Poorly written headline (and because of that I'm sure if the article reflects the actual events).