There’s rush hour traffic, and then there’s rush hour traffic in Atlanta.
That proved especially true Tuesday, as multiple car accidents, road work delays and tractor-trailer wrecks caused headaches for commuters on many of the city’s major thoroughfares, leaving hours-long lane closings and heavy gridlock in their wake.
Two motorists were critically injured in a multi-vehicle collision in Henry County early Tuesday morning after one of the drivers reportedly drove the wrong way on I-75, police said. The wreck caused all northbound lanes of the interstate to shut down for more than five hours.
Henry County police Lt. Joey Smith said the accident happened just north of Eagles Landing Parkway around 1 a.m. He said a 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche was heading south in the northbound lanes when it hit a 2007 Toyota Prius, a 2015 Toyota Corolla, a Chevrolet Traverse and a 2006 Toyota Avalon.
The wrong-way driver was ejected from the vehicle and transported to Grady Memorial Hospital, according to Smith, where he was reported to be in critical condition. He said the driver of the Prius was taken to Atlanta Medical Center and was also in critical condition.
All others sustained non-life threatening injuries. The crash was the second in three days on I-75 involving a wrong-way driver.
And what started off as a bad morning for commuters only got worse throughout the day.
Motorists traveling southbound on Ga. 400 experienced heavy delays Tuesday morning as crews worked on a road maintenance machine that broke down near the MARTA North Springs Station. The incident closed the shoulder — one of the highway’s new flex lanes that are supposed to help ease traffic — and an adjacent lane, causing traffic to stack up as far back as Northridge Road.
Georgia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Annalysce Baker-Wilson said workers began working on the lane at 7 p.m. Monday and planned to wrap up by 5 a.m. Tuesday, but were forced to stay on site to solve the mechanical problem.
That fix came too little, too late for commuters, as crews had to wait for an asphalt delivery truck that got caught in traffic caused by yet another wreck in the metro area.
A tractor-trailer hauling 45,000 pounds of steel overturned at Spaghetti Junction around 6 a.m., causing the busy ramp from I-285 east to I-85 north to close for several hours.
The truck’s driver was not seriously injured in the crash, which blocked the ramp until shortly before 8:30 a.m.
But more heavy traffic was still in store for motorists on the Perimeter during rush hour on Tuesday morning.
Authorities said a six-vehicle accident involving two tractor-trailers temporarily closed three out of four lanes of I-285 southbound near South Cobb Drive, causing a 4-mile backup and a 65- to 75-minute delay.
Georgia State Patrol investigators said they believe two cars traveling southbound on the interstate caused the chain-reaction crash, in which no major injuries were sustained.
Heavy traffic in the Atlanta area was reported well into Tuesday afternoon.
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