COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Thousands of drivers were mired in gridlock on I-75 during Wednesday afternoon rush hour after a dump truck heading southbound, hit a steel post, toppling a massive sign that crossed the interstate.
Most of the steel scaffolding fell onto the northbound lanes near Highway 5 and Canton Road in Marietta.
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All northbound lanes were shut down for several hours as crews worked to remove the debris.
The closing of the interstate spawned a miles-long backup.
“It was horrible. I have never had anything like that,” said driver Syndle Johnson.
Johnson said she and her toddler son were trapped in a pavement prison for three hours. She said she took out some beach chairs to pass the time and saw other drivers trying to make the best of the lost hours.
“There was a guy that was in front of me, that was waxing his jeep, there was a woman who had a newborn baby. We were worried about our car overheating and I was low on gas,” said Johnson.
She said at one crazy moment, people began to turn around in an attempt to get others to drive south in the northbound lanes to get to the nearest exit. She said that made the traffic calamity even worse.
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Another driver said he decided to just bail out.
“I parked my car on the side of the road on the grass and came through here and called my wife, and she came to pick me up,” Chay Grurala said.
Around 8 p.m., crews removed the scaffolding and reopened the interstate.
“And it was like, freedom!” said Johnson.
The truck driver that crashed into the sign wasn’t hurt.
Police cited him for driving in non-commercial lanes. He and his company could face additional citations and fines.
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