By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
A single vehicle accident took out about three concrete guardrail posts Thursday morning on the Hwy. 67/167 overpass at Main Street Jacksonville, according to state Highway and Transportation spokesman Danny Straessle, but by late afternoon, concrete Jersey barriers had replaced the damaged section and the affected inside northbound lane had been reopened.
Cabot resident Kenneth McGahan, 71, told first responders he “got turned around” trying to get to Ft. Roots Veterans Hospital.
The State Police incident report was still incomplete by early Friday afternoon, according to State Police spokesman Bill Sadler, who said McGahan “suffered minor injuries and was transported by Jacksonville EMS to the Veterans Hospital,” Sadler said.
McGahan’s vehicle came to rest on the guardrail and between the northbound and southbound structures of the overpass, causing traffic delays.
This overpass is a dangerous stretch of highway that is currently being rebuilt in a safer configuration with more modern materials. Accidents here claimed at least one life in recent years.
Part of a widening of Hwy. 67/167 from I-40 to an intersection north of Cabot, the overpass should be complete by 2017, Straessle said.
