Two westbound lanes of I-285 will close again overnight at Ashford Dunwoody Road as inspectors continue to evaluate the damage done by a crash and intense tractor-trailer fire Monday afternoon.
The lanes will be closed from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. to complete the inspections of steel beams under the Ashford Dunwoody Road bridge, Georgia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Natalie Dale said. It will be the third night in a row that lanes on the Perimeter’s northside will be closed.
Ashford Dunwoody Road will remain open through the night, GDOT said.
“Crews need additional time to finish structural evaluations as part of engineering due diligence,” Dale told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
@GADeptofTrans maintenance must close two I-285 WB lanes near Ashford Dunwoody again tonight from 10 pm to 5 am to complete steel beam inspections. Crews need additional time to finish structural evaluations as part of engineering due diligence.
— Georgia DOT ATL (@GDOTATL) August 31, 2022
Ashford Dunwoody remains open. pic.twitter.com/3gMSVpYzwG
The four-car crash happened Monday around 3 p.m., closing the interstate in both directions for hours. Three people were taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life threatening.
The Perimeter was reopened in stages after the flames from the burning truck were contained. Traffic resumed on I-285 East about three hours after the crash, and two westbound lanes were reopened by midnight. All lanes were open around 5 a.m. Tuesday, but GDOT closed two lanes for further inspections that night. Those inspections will continue with Wednesday night’s lane closures.
GDOT has provided detailed updates on social media explaining the safety measures added to the bridge and the inspection process. So far, no major structural faults have been detected.
Dunwoody police investigators believe one vehicle caused the crash when it attempted to go around another that was stopped in traffic, department spokesman Sgt. Michael Cheek said. The car attempting to dart around the stopped vehicle wrecked into two others, police said. A tractor-trailer then struck a black vehicle, pushing it against the median barrier and flipping another vehicle onto its side, Cheek said. When the truck stopped under the bridge, it caught on fire.
Police have not said if any charges will be filed against the driver found to be at fault.
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