Tractor-Trailer Accident Shuts Down I-85N For 9 Hours

Traffic is flowing again on a stretch of northbound Interstate 85 after an early-morning tractor-trailer accident shut down lanes for nearly eight hours.

The accident occurred at about 2 a.m. Wednesday near mile marker 169 near Hillsborough.

State troopers said a FedEx tractor-trailer was driving behind another rig that did not have a trailer when it ran into the back of it. Somehow, the FedEx tractor-trailer overturned and, as a result, blocked both northbound lanes of I-85.

The drivers of the tractor-trailers were OK, but the crash created a mess as with one truck sprawled across the highway.

Crews had to clean up diesel fuel that spilled from one of the vehicles. After the accident, traffic was backed up for more than a mile.

At about 7 a.m., crews were able to reopen one of the two northbound lanes; originally, they thought it would not be until early afternoon before both lanes reopened to traffic. Both lanes, however, were open again by 11:30 a.m.

The Highway Patrol said charges in the accident were pending.