Authorities reopened Interstate 85 north of Charlotte around 9 p.m. Saturday after more than 100 drivers were stranded in Cabarrus County due to Saturday’s snowstorm, according to the North Carolina Highway Patrol.
Cars and trucks were stuck in the northbound lanes around 6:30 p.m. Saturday after a minor collision caused traffic and winter weather forced authorities to close part of the highway.
The National Guard was deployed to help clear the interstate after a crash near Dale Earnhardt Boulevard that stalled dozens of vehicles, including about 30 tractor-trailers.
Exit 60 near Dale Earnhardt Boulevard to Exit 63 near Lane Street is closed and drivers are instructed to avoid the area, according to the N.C. Department of Transportation. The department said the icy weather caused some 18-wheelers to lose power and skid, causing traffic jams.
First responders made “tremendous progress” clearing roads and getting vehicles moving by 8:30 p.m., said Justin Graney, spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Emergency Management.
Kannapolis city spokesperson Annette Privette Keller said police and fire departments were assisting on the highway Saturday night but declined further comment.
A major snowstorm on January 31, 2026 left dozens of cars stranded on Interstate 85.
A state highway official said drivers “driving at unsafe speeds” caused numerous crashes in Mecklenburg County during Saturday’s severe snowstorm.
“We’re seeing a lot of debris in Mecklenburg County,” Michael Mariano, NCDOT Division 10 maintenance engineer for Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Union, Stanley and Anson counties, said in a news release. Most of those problems, he said, are down to speed. Mariano urged people to “stay off the roads as much as possible” during the storm.
On Saturday, January 31, 2026, a train struck a truck at Poplar Street and Airline Avenue in Gastonia during a snowstorm, and the driver of the semitrailer survived.
(Gastonia Police Department)
Medic responded to 33 incidents between midnight and noon on Saturday, including one crash at Arrowoood Road and Whitehall Executive Park Drive that left two people hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.
A vehicle struck the Long Creek Fire Department’s No. 10 engine 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 the car spinning out of control after police waved it around a wreck on Independence Avenue.
Train hits trailer in North Carolina snowstorm
But perhaps the most high-profile local accident of the day occurred in Gastonia, when a train hit a semitrailer at Poplar Street and Aviation Boulevard.
“Fortunately there were no injuries and the driver was able to escape,” police said in a social media post.
From midnight to noon, the North Carolina Highway Patrol responded to 340 crashes and 370 calls for service statewide, but there were no fatalities. As of Saturday evening, state officials said the Highway Patrol had received 750 reports of collisions.
A train crashed into a tractor-trailer at Poplar Street and Aviation Boulevard during a snowstorm on Saturday, January 31, 2026, and the driver of the semitrailer survived.
A train crashed into a tractor-trailer at Poplar Street and Aviation Boulevard during a snowstorm on Saturday, January 31, 2026, and the driver of the semitrailer survived.
