GASTON COUNTY — Getting in and out of Gaston County on I-85 during peak drive times can be a nightmare and there’s one particular stretch that sees more crashes than any other in the area.
Traffic Team 9′s Mark Taylor reports on accidents at the problem spot at exit 23 near McAdenville almost every day.
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Anna Pasour drives between Dallas and midtown Charlotte five days a week for work and constantly gets caught in the chaos.
“My husband and I refer to it as the Bermuda Triangle of commuting,” she said. “Because you never know what’s going to happen.”
But why so many crashes in this particular spot? Channel 9′s Taylor took that question to troopers with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
“A majority of our collisions are rear-end collisions where drivers are following a little too closely,” said Trooper Raymond Pierce. “Nine times out of ten they say, ’Traffic stopped immediately and I didn’t have time to stop.’”
The wrecks are usually minor and involve people who drive the stretch on a regular basis, but the congestion is getting too much even for locals.
“You can have everything planed out perfect … it may be wrecks, it may be backups,” Pasour said.
Traffic volume on I-85 is either at or approaching capacity due to Gaston County’s incredible growth. Over 89,000 vehicles travel between the South Carolina border and the Catawba River every day.
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Road design is also to blame, according to an North Carolina Department of Transportation report, released last year, that looked at cost effective ways to ease congestion on I-85.
The report found design flaws including poor sight distances, narrow medians and shoulders and poor entrance and exit ramp designs. It went on to suggest -- among other things -- to widen the interstate to eight lanes to help address the issues.
Highway Patrol says basic common sense would also go a long way.
“It goes back to the basic fundamentals of driving,” Pierce said. “We typically say for every ten miles per hour leave a car length … should leave plenty of time to stop.”
The state DOT says there were 208 crashes on I-85 northbound between Lowell and Mount Holly in 2019. The pandemic lowered that number in 2020, but crashes were up to 220 in 2021, including one fatal wreck.
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