Overturned 18-wheeler causes massive traffic backup, renews call for another bridge

Oct. 4—An overturned semitrailer at the south end of the U.S. 31 northbound bridge Monday backed up traffic for hours, renewing calls for another Tennessee River bridge to be built.

The 18-wheeler fell on its side at about 11:30 a.m. as it turned left from Wilson Street heading north on U.S. 31. Decatur police said there were no injuries. A wrecker with a 50-ton crane and another with a 40-ton crane were still working to remove the flipped trailer six hours after the wreck.

Decatur police were detouring northbound traffic east to Church Street and having it circle back to the Wilson Street ramp onto the bridge to get past the wreck.

Northbound Sixth Avenue traffic was backed up almost 2 miles, to 11th Street Southeast, as of 5 p.m. The alternative route across the river, Alabama 67 to the Interstate 65 bridge, was just as bad. As of 5 p.m., Alabama 67 was bumper to bumper from U.S. 31 to the interstate.

The tractor-trailer was operated by White Oak Transportation.

"Yeah, it rolled over," said Jim Durbin, directory of security for White Oak.

He said the company is investigating the cause of the accident alongside law enforcement.

"I really don't know at the time what caused it, but we have computers on the truck that'll tell us the driver's speed, and cameras," he said.

Durbin said the driver was taken to the hospital to get a checkup just in case injuries presented themselves later.

Mayor Tab Bowling said he was returning from Huntsville on Monday afternoon when he saw the traffic jam on northbound Sixth Avenue/U.S. 31.

"It was just nauseating," Bowling said. "The northbound lanes were desolate. It was just a complete shutdown of commerce and commuter traffic."

Bowling said the traffic jam is a reminder that the city needs another Tennessee River bridge. With the help of a $1 million federal grant, the city recently hired a consultant to do a $2 million study on a possible location for another bridge and its environmental impact. The targeted area involves the 6-mile stretch of the river between U.S. 31 and the Nucor steel plant to the west.

In the meantime, Bowling said he's looking at short-term solutions.

"We're trying to send people to Alabama 67 and get them to get out to (Interstate) 65," Bowling said.

Alabama 67 has its own congestion problems, however, compounded on Monday by an accident a few hours after the wreck at the bridge. That was one of several wrecks reported Monday in areas affected by the congested traffic. Police did not immediately have details on whether the congestion played a role in the other accidents.

Bowling said the city needs to discuss with the Alabama Department of Transportation placing message boards diverting traffic when there's a problem.

ALDOT spokesman Seth Burkett said the intersections on both sides of the U.S. 31 bridge are inundated with traffic and have multiple wrecks.

"There at 31 and (Alabama) 20 is the busiest intersection in town," he said, regarding the Y-interchange on the north end of the southbound bridge. "When you have a lot of traffic, you have a lot of crashes."

A crash on either the U.S. 31 or I-65 bridges causes problems throughout the city, he said.

"With only a couple major routes going into Decatur, it seems like a pronounced problem," he said. "Any time you have a crash, it generally creates pretty severe impacts to travel."

Efforts to remove the wrecked 18-wheeler Monday appeared complicated by its cargo and the damage to the trailer. A forklift could be seen moving cargo from the accident site to the side of U.S. 31 about 4:30 p.m.

Texaco clerk Joe Schooler said the wreck affected business at the station where he works on the southwest corner of Church Street and Sixth Avenue. Motorists apparently wanted to avoid exiting and reentering traffic.

"It's been a little slower than usual," he said. "With everything being backed up, they're just trying to get home."

Dee Simpson was driving through Decatur about four hours after the 18-wheeler turned over.

"Other drivers' emotions seem to range from frustration to apathy," she said. "Some drivers are cussing, and some just have no light left in their eyes."

When informed about the accident that also was disrupting Alabama 67 traffic, Simpson could only laugh.

"Pandemonium in Decatur today!"

— emma.daniel@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2437. Twitter @DD_EDaniel. Staff writer Bayne Hughes contributed to this report.