ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and other state officials urged people to avoid driving overnight and early Wednesday because of treacherous road conditions following a winter storm.
Atlanta’s downtown connector, numerous Interstate 75 entrance and exit ramps in Cobb County, and stretches of the freeway in Fulton and Bartow counties were impassible at times after hours of snow Tuesday, Georgia Department of Transportation officials said.
Slick roads were exacerbated by a mass of workers ending their days early, trying to return home Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
“Within a very short time frame, from when the snow started falling here, it became very obvious that everyone was leaving at the same time to go home,” Deal said.
Large traffic jams brought commutes to a standstill throughout the metro Atlanta region and drivers on some interstates were still sitting on backed-up freeways after 11 p.m. Initial predictions did not indicate that the storm would hit the metro Atlanta area as hard as it did, Deal said, also noting that some schools did not release their students early enough in the day.
However, some TV meteorologists on Atlanta stations said they were predicting it as early as Saturday and Sunday. At least the possibility.
State transportation officials said they pre-treated several major thoroughfares, including Interstates 285, 20, the Kennedy Interchange in Cobb County and others, but were having trouble getting crews into many areas because of traffic congestion.
Department spokeswoman Karlene Barron said GDOT couldn’t give estimates on how long it would take for crews to clear the jammed highways. Transportation Commissioner Keith Golden said the department had been prepared for the storm to take a more southern track, but was shifting resources to metro Atlanta.
“We will continue to work all night to get the lanes open,” Golden said. “Our primary goal is to get motorists off the road and home.”
Deal, who declared a state of emergency earlier in the day, said state officials were working with local authorities to address slick roadways and other emergency situations as they arise.
“There are gonna be a lot of people spending a lot of hours in the cold tonight to get things running along,” he said.
As of 9 p.m., Georgia State Patrol responded to 940 crashes throughout the state, according to GSP spokesman Gordy Wirght. He said 104 injuries and one fatality in Coweta County had been reported. Officials said Yvonne C. Nash, 60, of Griffin, died when she lost control of her car on Georgia Highway 85 in Senoia and landed upside down in a ditch.
Aside from Interstate 75, additional trouble spots Tuesday night included: Highway 575 in Cherokee County; State Route 16 at the Spalding-Coweta counties line; State Route 141 in Gwinnett County; State Route 9 in Forsyth County; State Route 12 in Haralson County; State Route 61 in Carroll County; State Route 28 in Richmond County, State Route 36 in Upson County; State Route 156 in Gordon County; portions of State Routes 14, 38 and 92 in Fulton County, and the Langford Parkway in south Atlanta, according to GDOT officials.
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Associated Press writer Christina A. Cassidy contributed to this report.
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