Published Monday, April 06, 2009

Another I-85 wreck in same spot

By Sarah Fay Campbell

The Times-Herald

A tractor-trailer transfer truck traveling southbound on Interstate 85 overturned early Monday morning in north Coweta County -- in the same location that two tractor-trailers crashed in separate incidents in March.

The truck, hauling double trailers, wrecked just north of Exit 56, Collinsworth Road.

Coweta County Sheriff's Office Deputy Robby Bowman worked the accident, which was reported at 3:44 Monday morning. The accident report, and other details, could not be obtained from the sheriff's office Monday.

The wreck occurred in a two-lane section of the interstate where construction continues on a widening project, but there was not a concrete barrier on the right-hand side of the interstate in that area. Instead, there is a dirt shoulder with a drop-off of several inches between the pavement and the shoulder.

On Friday, the Georgia Department of Transportation lowered the speed limit along I-85 in south Fulton County and Coweta County in the construction zone to 50 mph. The area of the 50 mph zone stretches from Ga. Hwy. 74 in Fairburn south to the Meriwether County line. The decision was made by state officials to lower the speed limit following two accidents last week, one including one fatality and another involving two trucks that burst into flames near Northgate High School.