DEL.ICIO.USUpdated: 8:46 p.m. January 08, 2009
ATLANTA
Traffic nightmare on Connector, Perimeter
Man leaps from downtown overpass; chase, wreck snarl parts of I-285
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Thursday’s drive home turned nightmarish after three incidents snarled highways in downtown Atlanta and on the north and south sides of the Perimeter.
At least five lanes of the Downtown Connector (I-75/85) were shut down after a man jumped to his death into northbound traffic from a Courtland Avenue overpass just after 3 p.m.
Georgia DOT
Northbound lanes of the Connector were closed, as seen in this image from the Georgia DOT Navigator.
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Authorities don’t know who the man is or why he jumped, Georgia State Patrol spokesman Lt. Paul Cosper said.
Georgia State Patrol and H.E.R.O. crews were on the scene at 5:30 p.m., investigating and trying to help clear the logjam.
On the Perimeter’s topside, traffic on I-285 westbound was tied up for hours, after a tractor-trailer truck loaded with hay and tar paper caught fire and burned about 2 p.m., said Capt. Eric Jackson of the DeKalb County fire department.
Initially all westbound lanes were blocked, Jackson said. About 45 minutes into the incident, two lanes were opened.
The trailer portion of the vehicle was on fire between Chamblee Dunwoody and Ashford Dunwoody roads and backed up traffic to Spaghetti Junction. The driver was not injured.
Separately, a high-speed police chase on the southside shut down the entrance to the southbound Perimeter at Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. The chase ended in a crash about 5 p.m.
Police were searching a nearby wooded area for a suspect, said Paul Marshal, a spokesman for the Georgia Department of Transportation. Traffic was affected on King Drive but not on I-285.
Information about what started the police pursuit was not immediately available.
— Staff writers Chandler Brown and Mary MacDonald contributed to this article.
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