The crash of a tractor-trailer truck on Interstate 85 South in Hillsborough led to major traffic delays and closures on Tuesday afternoon — but the interstate and a road underneath it reopened after nearly two hours of work.

The Orange Rural Fire Department shared at 1:18 p.m. that one of its units was responding to a crash, which damaged the bridge of the interstate crossing over Orange Grove Road. The local department urged travelers to avoid Orange Grove Road, as it would be closed in both directions for “several hours” until the state Department of Transportation made repairs.

NCDOT issued an alert roughly an hour later, saying Orange Grove Road’s closure between Virginia Cates Road and Patriots Pointe Drive was because of a “road obstruction.” Additionally, traffic along Interstate 85 was significantly delayed as only one lane was open to moving vehicles. The obstruction was clear and the road was reopened to traffic at 2:45 p.m., according to NCDOT.

Aerial footage shared by WRAL early on Tuesday afternoon showed a tractor-trailer truck being towed away from the road, with the concrete guardrail along the bridge damaged from the crash.

Following the crash and initial delay, Orange County Schools issued an alert to its families and students — warning of the road closures and encouraging everyone to expect further information to come from the district regarding transportation updates for Tuesday afternoon.

 

Featured photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.

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