Flipped trailer blocks traffic on U.S. 74 Friday

Published 2:20 pm Monday, November 8, 2010

Some traffic traveling west on U.S. 74 Friday morning was trapped for about an hour and a half because of a tractor trailer accident that blocked both lanes.

The Columbus Fire Department reports it was dispatched at 8:23 a.m. Friday to U.S. 74 around mile marker 161, between I-26 and the Hwy. 108 exit near Polk County High School. The trailer of a tractor trailer overturned on its side and, combined with the truck pulling it, blocked both lanes of traffic.

Columbus and other local agencies responded to clear the road.

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The westbound lane was closed between about 8:30 a.m. and when the scene was cleared at 9:56 a.m., according to Columbus Fire Chief Geoff Tennant. Some traffic was trapped between the Polk County High School exit and the accident scene.

Other traffic was rerouted through Columbus to get to I-26 West. The rerouted traffic experienced other delays through Columbus because of&bsp; N.C. Department of Transportation road construction occurring between Blanton and Peak streets in downtown Columbus.

The cause of the overturned trailer was unknown as of press time.