How to get better at cleaning up interstate wrecks

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – Twice this week traffic on I-24 westbound in Chattanooga was stalled by traffic accidents near the ridge cut.

On Tuesday, it took 6 hours to clear the wreckage of a semi.

The Tennessee Highway patrol and T-DOT are launching a campaign to cut down the time needed to clear a major thoroughfare following a wreck.

Drivers vent to us about Chattanooga traffic:

“It takes forever.”

” Constant, its always backed up. ”

Motorists are growing more concerned and angry about interstate wrecks. So is the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

Lt. John Harmon “The volume of traffic that is traveling through the Chattanooga area is extraordinary. And its going to get worse as the inland port comes into Georgia, and we recognize this traffic and the traffic conditions in the Chattanooga area. ”

One way to cut the cleanup delays after a wreck is training, according to Lt. Harmon.

“The Tennessee Highway patrol along with TDOT have been very aggressively training with all our local agencies and our first responders.”

That training is done in Nashville and it’s being done by regions in the state.

Ranny Saint with TDOT’s Help program tells us “THP and ourselves have teamed up to offer training for all the emergency responders that will be at the scene working with us. We’ve learned that if we can get in a controlled environment and talk about what we want to do, how we want to do it, it’s a lot better than waiting until an emergency happens to get down on the scene and get to know one another out there.”

And new technology is also shortening the recovery time.

“We have 133 cameras out on the interstate system and we have staff that watches monitors the traffic on the interstate..and they often see an incident happen as it happens in real time.”

Sometimes the first responders are dispatched before the report ever goes out. The THP has a dispatcher in the next room.

Lt. Harmon says if drivers will start using more caution…that jammed up interstate problems may start to get better.