Let’s get right to this: We have seen this before. A truck on Atlanta’s freeways has some kind of problem and a sign is hit and falls.
Writing about the sign collapse on I-75 in Marietta last Wednesday afternoon isn’t to hype it. But documenting and reflecting upon something so epic, so spectacular to see, and so inconveniencing to so many is absolutely necessary.
Digesting what happened and its severity is also mandatory a day or few later — when the fog and frustration of the moment have ebbed. That is the best path to truly appreciate its magnitude.
The chaos and closures unfolded around 4:30 p.m. on July 12th, as PM drive roared to a crawl. A southbound dump truck on I-75 at the Highway 5/Canton Connector (Exit 267) lost control and struck the median wall. The truck happened to hit directly at the footing of the large, metal sign overhang that directed I-75/northbound travelers.
The sign structure collapsed down diagonally with the side above the left lanes of I-75/northbound falling to the ground. We arrived in the WSB Skycopter shortly before 5 p.m. and, of course, Marietta PD had closed all outbound lanes.
We issued a traffic RED ALERT on 95.5 WSB and our Triple Team Traffic Alerts App, to alert drivers immediately and with frequency of the severe consequences to their commutes. Anyone involved knew I-75/northbound would be shut down for hours. Marietta PD were very proactive in diverting traffic off onto the North Marietta Pkwy./North 120 Loop (Exit 265) and they meticulously turned around motorists stuck behind the closure and above the diversion. Any non-tractor trailer turned around, one or a few at a time, and drove back to the N. 120 Loop in the opposite direction. Semi-trucks cannot easily do 20-point-turns.
First responders braved the Georgia summer heat, on a black top, with hundreds of engines idling around them, to make this happen nearly seamlessly. They suffered with the stuck motorists.
The wounded and instigating dump truck sat on the left shoulder on I-75/southbound aided by rescue equipment in the left lane. This and the sign spectacle stacked I-75/southbound back to Wade Green (Exit 273).
But the I-75/northbound delays were the worst in the ordeal. At the nadir of the incident and rush hour, I-75/northbound began jamming at I-285 (Exit 259), approximately eight miles behind the collapse.
Highway 41/Cobb Parkway was very slow as an alternate, but certainly was moving, at least. The reversible Peach Pass Express Lanes filled quickly, but certainly were worth the toll. Some East Cobb or Woodstock-bound traffic could take Powers Ferry to the S. 120 Loop or GA-400/northbound to Holcomb Bridge (Exit 7). Holcomb Bridge becomes Highway 92 and goes west to both Woodstock and Acworth.
Those alternates are long hauls, but they are better options than sitting stopped in the blazing sun.
As I monitored social media comments, in between 95.5 WSB hits in the Skycopter, the refrain was nearly uniform: “This is so Atlanta.” Or: “Only in Atlanta traffic.”
True, this did seem like an “Atlanta doing Atlanta things” moment, as many people said about the sinkhole eating a car on Ponce back in June. But while the Ponce sinkhole was due to the Atlanta sewer infrastructure’s shortcomings, this I-75 sign closure seems to have been more the result of rule breaking and seriously bad luck.
The Department of Public Safety’s Motor Carrier Compliance Division enforces freight laws on the state’s roads. DPS Public Information Officer Sgt. Chasen Woodie told the AJC and 95.5 WSB that the dump truck blew a right-front tire and careened into the left wall. It just happened to hit in the exact spot of the sign’s base. Bad luck morphs into the worst luck.
Sgt. Woodie did say that they cited the driver for driving in one of the three left lanes, something that drivers of vehicles of a certain size cannot do. If that driver had not been breaking the law, then their chances of hitting the wall and sign would have been less.
Remarkably, Marietta PD said this collision or the sign collapse injured no one. Bad luck morphs into good luck.
The biggest bruise is the massive traffic jams and the appointments missed or dinners delayed. And the state will soon have to block I-75 in the off hours to rebuild and erect the sign structure. All of that comes with a cost.
Maybe the biggest lesson learned from this Hump Day debacle is just that things happen and they can arise at any time or place. The RED ALERT on I-75/northbound is one of multiple reminders each week that Atlanta’s commutes are extremely unpredictable. Motorists should check their routes before they leave and should keep on top of conditions as they progress.
Are the Atlanta roads cursed? Maybe. But was the I-75 dump-truck sign collapse some institutional failure? No. Responders had the freeway open by 8 p.m. and had a traffic plan immediately.
This infamous I-75 closure is only a failure if nobody learns from it.
Doug Turnbull, the PM drive Skycopter anchor for Triple Team Traffic on 95.5 WSB, is the Gridlock Guy. Download the Triple Team Traffic Alerts App to hear reports from the WSB Traffic Team automatically when you drive near trouble spots. Contact him at Doug.Turnbull@cmg.com.
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