The U.S. Department of Transportation has issued $10 million in emergency funds to the state of Georgia for repairs on the section of Interstate 85 that collapsed Thursday evening due to a fire.
A fire underneath an overpass on I-85 outside of Atlanta caused it to collapse, indefinitely closing both lanes of the major corridor. Through-trucks are required to use the I-285 bypass regardless, but now the state is diverting car traffic from I-85 to I-285, which could cause greater congestion on the bypass route.
The DOT has stated that the $10 million in “quick release”funding will be used to restore emergency access and to initiate the most critical repairs to the damaged roadways and bridges in the next few weeks.