An overturned chicken truck shut down a section of Athens Highway southeast of Gainesville Friday morning. The wreck blocked the northbound lanes near A.L. Mangum Road and slowed traffic in the southbound lanes.
According to the Georgia State Patrol, the tractor-trailer was traveling north on Athens Highway, loaded with live chickens, when it ran off the road in a curve shortly before 9 a.m. on September 22. The tractor-trailer struck a guardrail before overturning onto its passenger side.
“After the crash, the roadway remained closed for approximately 4.5 hours while crews cleaned the roadway and towed the vehicle,” says GSP Public Information Officer Courtney Floyd.
Crews removed live and dead chickens from the scene.
An ambulance transported the driver to a local hospital with minor injuries. Troopers cited him for failing to maintain his lane. The state patrol did not release his name or the name of the vehicle’s owner.
The Georgia Department of Transportation posted signs alerting motorists to the delay while the cleanup was underway.
Shortly before 1 p.m., the highway reopened to traffic
