A tractor-trailer got stuck on a new roundabout on Sherrills Ford and Briggs roads early Monday morning.
Few details were available, but people at the scene said the truck jumped a curb and got stuck in the dirt center of the roundabout about 5 a.m. The front of the tractor was damaged and fire crews along with a local Haz Mat crew were called to clean up diesel that spilled from the truck’s fuel tanks.
Crews unhitched the trailer and towed the tractor out of the mud.
The investigating trooper is off duty and an accident report is not yet available.
Locke Fire Department responded to the scene and Salisbury Fire Department’s Haz Mat team also responded to clean the fuel spill.
Cars and other tractor trailers entering the roundabout were detoured around the accident.
The driver, who was with TMW Trucking Inc., based out of Mocksville, declined to speak with a Post reporter at the scene.
The roundabout has been controversial since its creation.
Mendee Williams petitioned officials with the North Carolina Department of Transportation for increased safety at the intersection after her son, Greg, 18, was killed in a collision at the intersection in July 2009.
State officials eventually responded with the roundabout, the first one in Rowan County.
“After a careful study of traffic patterns and accident history, the data show that a roundabout will improve safety at this intersection more effectively than any other option,” Pat Ivey, division engineer who oversees traffic projects in Rowan, said in early 2012. “With 22 accidents and one fatality in five years here, it’s critical that we install the most cost-effective, long-term solution to help prevent dangerous crashes, and that’s exactly what the roundabout will allow us to do.”
Neighbors at the intersection disapproved of the roundabout and lobbied against it.