A fatal accident on I-77 yesterday caused a gridlock on W. Catawba, Jetton Extension

Oct. 8 By Dave Vieser. A fatal accident near Exit 31 on Monday afternoon was the main cause of the gridlock in Cornelius hours later. “Whenever there is a serious accident on the highway, drivers try to avoid it, and the roads in our city struggle to handle that volume of traffic,” said Cornelius Police Chief David Baucom.

It took some riders between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. to drive from West Catawba near Jetton to Diverging Diamond.

“Once an accident is resolved, it still takes a significant amount of time for traffic volumes to return to normal,” Baucom said.

The loud noise subsided between 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. The accident, which involved a motorcycle, occurred at 3:10 p.m., according to the NC Highway Patrol. The accident killed Arthur Godfrey Beland Jr. of Yadkinville.