Authorities reopened Interstate 85 north of Charlotte around 9 p.m. Saturday after more than 100 drivers were stuck in Cabarrus County because of wrecks in Saturday’s snow storm, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
Many cars and trucks got stuck in the northbound lanes around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday after backed-up traffic caused by a minor collision and winter weather forced authorities to shut down part the highway.
The National Guard was deployed to help clear the interstate after a collision near Dale Earnhardt Boulevard stalled dozens of vehicles, including around 30 tractor-trailers.
Exit 60 near Dale Earnhardt Boulevard to Exit 63 near Lane Street was closed and drivers were instructed to avoid the area, according to the N.C. Department of Transportation. The department said icy conditions caused some 18-wheelers to lose momentum and slide, contributing to the traffic backup.
First responders had made “great progress” clearing the roadway and getting vehicles moving by 8:30 p.m., said Justin Graney, a spokesperson for North Carolina Emergency Management said.
Annette Privette Keller, a spokesperson for the city of Kannapolis, said police and fire were assisting on the highway Saturday evening but declined to comment further.
Dozens of vehicles were stuck on Interstate 85 because of crashes in the big snowstorm on Jan. 31, 2026.
Drivers “traveling at unsafe speeds” caused many of the wrecks in Mecklenburg County during Saturday’s monster snow storm, a state highway official said.
“We have seen a lot of wrecks in Mecklenburg County,” Michael Mariano, the NCDOT Division 10 maintenance engineer over Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Union, Stanly and Anson counties said at a news conference. Speed was to blame in most of them, he said. Mariano urged people to “stay off roads if possible” during the storm.
The driver of a semi-tractor trailer escaped injury when a train hit the rig in Gastonia at Poplar Street and Airline Avenue during a snow storm on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026.
(Gastonia Police Department)
From midnight to noon Saturday, Medic responded to 33 wrecks, including a collision at Arrowood Road and Whitehall Executive Park Drive that hospitalized two people with life-threatening injuries.
A vehicle hit Long Creek Fire Department Engine 10 at the scene of a crash on Interstate 485 in Charlotte, the Huntersville Fire Department reported. No one was injured.
Video on social media showed cars skidding out of control after police waved them around a wreck on Independence Boulevard.
Train hits tractor-trailer in NC snowstorm
But perhaps the most dramatic local wreck of the day occurred in Gastonia, when a train hit a semi-tractor trailer at Poplar Street and Airline Avenue.
“Luckily no injuries, the driver was able to get out,” police posted on social media.
From midnight to noon, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol responded to 340 wrecks, none fatal, and 370 calls for service statewide. By Saturday night, state officials said 750 collisions were reported to the highway patrol.
The driver of a semi-tractor trailer escaped injury when a train hit the rig at Poplar Street and Airline Avenue during a snow storm on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026.
The driver of a semi-tractor trailer escaped injury when a train hit the rig at Poplar Street and Airline Avenue during a snow storm on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026.
