UPDATE: I-81 South Open In Greene County After Work Zone Crash
Photo by: Dana Wachter, 11 Connects
Wreckage litters the southbound lanes of Interstate 81 in Greene County near the interstate rest area.
Update at 8:44 a.m.: All lanes of I-81 South have been re-opened for travel. THP still hasn’t released the names or conditions of the people in the tractor trailer. A dispatcher said all media calls must now go to a THP spokesman in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Update at 6 a.m.: One lane of I-81 South has re-opened.
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Greene County, TN - Interstate 81 South between the Jearoldstown and Baileyton Exits is closed in Greene County after a tractor trailer hit two vehicles in a work zone last Sunday night.
Just before midnight, the truck carrying furniture hit a truck contracted by the Tennessee Department of Transportation and a Tennessee Highway Patrol Car near the I-81 southbound rest stop near the 41 mile-marker.
One person in the tractor trailer was air-lifted to Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport after being trapped for a while in the cab of the truck. Another passenger in the tractor trailer was transported to HVMC by ambulance. No word yet on the extent of their injuries.
THP identified the Trooper as Nathan Hall, an officer assigned to Hawkins County who just recently transferred to the district from the Nashville area. Hall was treated and released from a local hospital.
No one was in the the TDOT-contracted truck at the time of the wreck. The truck belonged to an Ohio-based company contracted by TDOT.
I-81 remains closed as crews clean up diesel and a paint-like substance that escaped from the TDOT truck that was putting reflector lines on the interstate.
No word yet when the interstate will re-open.
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Reader Reactions
Nanaof150,
I was a emergency worker at the scene and these alerts help us out tremendously. To let motorist know the the road is shut down and to keep people off of us while were trying to do our job. If you do not want to get the alerts then have the traffic alert setting taken off your phone. we’re trying to save lives and people who doesn’t follow the alerts are the ones that hender us from doing our job. These alerts are not set up for just one person there set up for anyone and everyone. I’m very happy to receive these alerts at anytime day or night.
The problem here is that someone cared much more about them getting awakened by the alert they signed up for more than if any of these people were okay from a human caring perspective. It is all about what affects us personally first unfortunately to some people in our great country. If you don’t want the alerts in the middle of the night, turn them off, or turn your cell phone off. I’m just happy at this point that some people while hurt have at least made it through to this point in this unfortunate incident.
nanaof150 - although the traffic alerts may not concern you in the middle of the night you need to be realistic about it. You signed up for the alerts. They do not know if you would like them in the morning, middle of the day, or at night. Keep in mind there are many people that are working in the middle of the night that appreciate the alerts. If you are not happy about being woken up by such alerts maybe you should deactivate your account and stop complaining about the system.
cah944, so sorry you didn’t like what I had to say. I wanted alerts, yes, but I didn’t ask for this kind of alert in the middle of the night. I expect a bad weather alert or something like that, not a traffic alert that does not directly concern me. I need my phone on because of my mother, who is in bad health. I also use the alarm function to wake up in the mornings. I’m not whining, just stating that I don’t want to be wakened by something that doesn’t directly concern me. Thank you.
I didnt even hear mine go off last night but I’m glad that I have them, because if I hadnt gotten the message when it happened I would have never gotten on here to know that the other lane has opened. And since I will be driving 81 later that could have been the difference in being on time or being stuck in a jam!
And if you dont want traffic alerts at all times, turn them off (after-all you can pick which alerts you get) and just check the reports in the morning, or put your phone on silent or off when you are going to bed.
Just a little advice Nana…if you don’t want to be woke up in the middle of the night by your cell phone then TURN IT OFF when you go to bed. Don’t blame the BHC for this, you wanted the alerts, and you got it, now stop your complaining and blaming others because you leave your phone on at night! Common sense!
Your overnight text alerts about traffic problems may concern people who travel overnight, but I was in bed sound asleep when my cell phone went off at nearly 3 am with an alert about this accident. I did not need this alert at 3 am. I don’t know who is in charge of sending these alerts, and I appreciate alerts concerning traffic problems during the day, but they are not needed overnight because I don’t travel overnight. I don’t have a problem being alerted to bad weather at any time, day or night. Thank you for all your hard work at BHC.
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