10,000 Pounds of Pallets Spills onto I-285

WSB-TV Atlanta, January 21, 2015

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga – Crews spent hours working to clean up debris after a tractor-trailer carrying 10,000 pounds of pallets overturned on a metro interstate.

The truck was on the ramp from Interstate 285 south to Interstate 20 east when it crashed around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Police said the truck didn’t slow down enough on the ramp and flipped over, spilling metal pallets across the road.

Triple Team Traffic brought you live coverage on Channel 2 Action News This Morning as crews blocked all exit lanes, creating heavy delays.

It took nearly five hours for the Georgia Department of Transportation to clean up the mess.

The ramp where the crash happened is a sharp curve that has seen its fair share of wrecks.

Channel 2 Action News covered at least four rollovers in the same spot in 2014.

GDOT officials said they realize that it’s a trouble spot and are working to find a solution.

“We’re going to get out there and do what’s in our budget now as fast as we can. And if we still don’t see any progress, if we don’t see a reduction in these rollovers and wrecks, then we’ll get out and look at long-term solutions, which are much more costly,” GDOT spokeswoman Natalie Dale said.

GDOT officials said putting up more signs and flashing lights will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but the cost of reconstructing the entire ramp could reach the millions.