09/20/16 — Wayne Memorial Drive reopened after wrecks cause blockage

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Wayne Memorial Drive reopened after wrecks cause blockage

By Ethan Smith
Published in News on September 20, 2016 4:56 AM

 The North Carolina State Highway Patrol responded to 14 wrecks in roughly three hours and part of Wayne Memorial Drive was closed due to heavy rains and flooding in the area Monday afternoon.

Sgt. J.K. Whitley with the Highway Patrol said the road reopened about 9:30 p.m.

Wayne Memorial Drive was closed from Stoney Creek Church Road to Saulston Road. Traffic was rerouted down Stoney Creek Church Road to Daw Pate Road, and back across to N.C. 111, Whitley said.

The wrecks Monday afternoon occurred mainly on the U.S. 70 Bypass, Interstate 795 and Wayne Memorial Drive, Whitley said. Several happened in the southern end of the county, and most of the wrecks were not major incidents, Whitley said.

Of the wrecks, the most severe happened on Wayne Memorial Drive between Hare Road and Saulston Road when a truck hydroplaned and flipped into a ditch, landing upside down.

See today's News-Argus for the full story.