Interstate 185 getting a cable barrier system to prevent crossover crashes

A significant portion of Interstate 185 from Columbus northward is getting a major safety upgrade that will help keep everything from family vehicles to big-rig tractor-trailers from crossing the median and crashing into motorists moving in the opposite direction.

The Georgia Department of Transportation confirmed Friday that a cable barrier system is being installed on nearly 21 miles of the interstate from the Muscogee County line to the border separating Harris County and Troup County.

“That project is installing cable barrier on the portions of the north and south median shoulders on I-185,” Penny Brooks, communications officer with the GDOT’s District 3, said via email. “The cable barrier system is similar to guard rail. (It) will prevent traffic from crossing the median into opposing lanes.”

Work includes pouring concrete along the median shoulders so that high-tension cable lines can be strung using steel anchors. The work should be completed by the end of November, Brooks said. Massana Construction Inc. is the contractor doing the work valued at just over $2.4 million.

Brooks, after speaking with a state engineer, could not say if or when the remainder of Interstate 185 might get the cable barrier protection from the Troup County line north to the highway’s terminus at Interstate 85, just east of LaGrange.

Georgia has been installing the less costly, but effective cable barrier systems along some of its interstates and major highways for years, targeting open medians that are prone to vehicles losing control from driver error or rainy weather hydroplaning, then crossing into oncoming traffic and causing serious injuries and fatalities.

“Cable barriers are softer (than concrete and steel beams), resulting in less impact force and redirection, are more adaptable to slopes typically found in medians, and can be installed through less invasive construction methods,” the U.S. Department of Transportation says on its website. “The application of cable median barriers is a very cost-effective means of reducing the severity of median crossover crashes.”

Roughly 21,000 vehicles per day travel Interstate 185, according to state traffic counts. That compares to 51,100 vehicles daily on Interstate 85 just north of its intersection with I-185. Limited access freeways in Columbus, such as J.R. Allen Parkway and the southern portion of I-185, see traffic counts between 65,000 and 70,000 vehicles each day.

Interstate 185 in its current 49.3-mile length dates to 1979 and has been designated a Scenic Byway, which protects trees along its path and prohibits commercial billboards. It runs from just outside Fort Benning’s main entrance north through Columbus and Harris County and about halfway through Troup County before connecting with Interstate 85, which moves travelers north to Atlanta and south to Montgomery, Ala.

This story was originally published September 28, 2018 at 3:26 PM.