Georgia · DeKalb County · Traffic & Accidents

Overturned Tractor-Trailer Accident Closes I-285 Eastbound at Moreland Avenue — Moreland Blocked at Cedar Grove Road and Henrico Road, DeKalb County, GA

The Georgia Department of Transportation’s 511 Georgia system listed all lanes of I-285 eastbound as closed at Moreland Avenue in DeKalb County, Georgia, after an overturned vehicle Thursday morning. GDOT logged the closure at 9:43 a.m. ET Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, rated it major and flagged it a full closure; the event was still on 511’s active incident list at 10:59 a.m. ET. WSB-TV, in a story its own record stamps 10:45:53 a.m. ET, reported that police and fire officials had closed lanes on Moreland Avenue beside I-285 following the overturn of a tractor-trailer, that the east and west ramps to Moreland were closed, and that Moreland Avenue was blocked northbound at Cedar Grove Road and southbound at Henrico Road. DeKalb Fire Rescue, via WSB, said the truck may have been leaking hazardous material but that it is now contained. Neither source carries injury information, and neither states a cause.

By Nathan Saunders Published Aug. 20, 2026, 11:05 a.m. ET 3 min read Developing · Still on 511’s active incident list at 10:59 a.m. ET · GDOT record last updated 10:32 a.m.

Key facts

What: GDOT event 6009384, description verbatim: “Overturned vehicle on I-285 Eastbound at MORELAND AVE. All lanes closed.” Severity major, full closure true, event subtype “overturned vehicle”
Vehicle: GDOT says “overturned vehicle.” WSB-TV says a tractor-trailer overturned
Where: I-285 at Moreland Avenue
County: DeKalb County, Georgia
Direction: Eastbound (GDOT direction field: e)
Lanes: “All lanes closed.”
Ramps: WSB-TV: the east and west ramps to Moreland are closed
Also blocked: WSB-TV: Moreland Avenue northbound at Cedar Grove Road and southbound at Henrico Road
Hazmat: DeKalb Fire Rescue, via WSB-TV: the truck may have been leaking hazardous material, but it is now contained. No substance named
Reported: 9:43 a.m. ET, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. GDOT last updated the record at 10:32 a.m. ET
Status: Still on 511’s active incident list at 10:59 a.m. ET. No source states a reopening
GDOT’s anticipated end: 10:13 a.m. ET — GDOT’s estimate, not a confirmed reopening; the event was still listed 46 minutes past it
Sources: GDOT 511 Georgia (event type Incident Closures, source GA-Events, source ID 5566610) and WSB-TV — two independent parents, one agency and one newsroom

What closed on I-285 at Moreland Avenue in DeKalb County, GA?

GDOT’s 511 Georgia system, the state’s official road-status feed, carries the closure as event 6009384. Its description reads, in full: “Overturned vehicle on I-285 Eastbound at MORELAND AVE. All lanes closed.” The record flags it as a full closure, sets severity to major, files it under the event type Incident Closures, and gives the event subtype as “overturned vehicle.” The direction field is e — eastbound.

WSB-TV describes the same accident from the surface-street side. Its report says, verbatim, that “Police and fire officials have lanes shut down on Moreland Avenue just off I-285 after a tractor-trailer overturned.” WSB is the only source that identifies the vehicle as a tractor-trailer; GDOT’s record says only “overturned vehicle.” Both descriptions are reported here as each source wrote them.

Is the I-285 accident at Moreland Avenue cleared?

Neither source says it is. GDOT’s event 6009384 was still on 511’s active incident list at 10:59 a.m. ET, listed as a full closure, and GDOT last updated the record at 10:32 a.m. ET. WSB-TV’s report, stamped 10:45:53 a.m. ET in the outlet’s own record, states that the ramps to Moreland are closed “while the crash is being cleared” — that is, cleanup in progress, not finished. WSB labels the story “DEVELOPING STORY.”

Attention: GDOT’s record carries an end time of 10:13 a.m. ET. That figure is GDOT’s anticipated end — its own estimate of when it expects to stop listing the event — and not a confirmed reopening. The event was still on the active list 46 minutes after that estimate had passed. No agency and no newsroom has stated that any of these roads have reopened, so this report does not state it either.

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Which roads and ramps are closed at Cedar Grove Road and Henrico Road?

Between the two sources, these are the closures on the record. GDOT lists all lanes of I-285 eastbound at Moreland Avenue as closed. WSB-TV reports that “The east and west ramps to Moreland are closed while the crash is being cleared” and that “Moreland Avenue was blocked in the northbound direction at Cedar Grove Road and in the southbound direction at Henrico Road.”

Those are the only roads either source names. GDOT’s locationDescription field is null, so the agency gives no exit number and no landmark beyond the cross street MORELAND AVE. GDOT’s detourDescription field is also null: the agency has published no detour for this event, and no route is suggested here.

What did DeKalb Fire Rescue say about hazardous material?

WSB-TV reports one statement from DeKalb Fire Rescue: the agency said it is on the scene, and said the truck “may have been leaking hazardous material, but it is now contained.” That is the entire hazardous-material record for this accident. No substance is named by DeKalb Fire Rescue or by WSB, no quantity is given, and nothing further is stated here.

What do the records not say?

What caused it. GDOT’s subtype is “overturned vehicle” and its comment field is null; WSB gives no cause. None is stated here.
Whether anyone was hurt. Neither GDOT’s record nor WSB’s report carries injury information. That is an absence, and this report does not read it either way.
When the roads will reopen. GDOT’s 10:13 a.m. figure is an anticipated end time only, and the event outlived it on the active list. No reopening has been announced.
What the truck was carrying. DeKalb Fire Rescue named no substance, and neither does this report.
Which agencies are on scene. GDOT names no agency beyond its own GA-Events source, ID 5566610. WSB names DeKalb Fire Rescue and refers generally to “police and fire officials.”
Whether the westbound closure is the same event. GDOT lists a second record — event 6009669, “Incident on I-285 Westbound at SR 42/MORELAND AVE. All lanes closed.” — logged at 10:28 a.m. ET and last updated at 10:54 a.m. ET. GDOT does not state whether it is connected to the eastbound overturn, and no connection is asserted here.
A detour. GDOT’s detourDescription is null. No detour exists in the record.

Frequently asked questions

Is I-285 still closed at Moreland Avenue in DeKalb County, GA?
As of the last check for this report, nothing in either source says it has reopened. GDOT event 6009384 was still on 511 Georgia’s active incident list at 10:59 a.m. ET Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, listed as a full closure, and GDOT last updated the record at 10:32 a.m. ET. WSB-TV, in a story its own record stamps 10:45:53 a.m. ET, reported that the east and west ramps to Moreland were closed. GDOT’s record carries an anticipated end time of 10:13 a.m. ET, but that is GDOT’s own estimate of when it expects to stop listing the event, not a confirmed reopening, and the event outlived it on the list.

What happened on I-285 at Moreland Avenue in DeKalb County?
A vehicle overturned. GDOT’s description reads, in full, “Overturned vehicle on I-285 Eastbound at MORELAND AVE. All lanes closed.” and its event subtype is “overturned vehicle.” WSB-TV reported that officers and firefighters had lanes closed on Moreland Avenue beside I-285 following the overturn of a tractor-trailer. Neither source states what caused the accident, and no cause is stated here.

Which roads and ramps are closed at Moreland Avenue, Cedar Grove Road and Henrico Road?
GDOT lists all lanes of I-285 eastbound at Moreland Avenue as closed, with its full-closure flag set to true. WSB-TV reported that the east and west ramps to Moreland are closed, and that Moreland Avenue was blocked in the northbound direction at Cedar Grove Road and in the southbound direction at Henrico Road. Those are the only roads either source names.

Was hazardous material involved in the I-285 accident at Moreland Avenue?
DeKalb Fire Rescue, quoted by WSB-TV, said the truck “may have been leaking hazardous material, but it is now contained.” That is the whole of what either source says on the subject. No substance is named by DeKalb Fire Rescue or by WSB, and none is named here.

Was anyone hurt in the Moreland Avenue accident in DeKalb County?
Neither GDOT’s record nor WSB-TV’s report carries injury information. GDOT’s comment field is null. WSB’s story does not address injuries. That is an absence of information, and this report does not read it either way.

What time did the I-285 eastbound closure at Moreland Avenue start?
GDOT’s start time for event 6009384 is 9:43 a.m. ET on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. GDOT last updated the record at 10:32 a.m. ET, and the event was still on 511’s active incident list at 10:59 a.m. ET.

Are the westbound lanes of I-285 affected at Moreland Avenue?
GDOT’s entry is eastbound only. Its direction field is “e” and its description names I-285 Eastbound. WSB-TV’s reference to east and west ramps is to the ramps at Moreland Avenue, not to I-285’s westbound lanes. GDOT carries the overturned-vehicle record, event 6009384, as eastbound only: its direction field is “e” and its description names I-285 Eastbound. GDOT separately lists event 6009669, “Incident on I-285 Westbound at SR 42/MORELAND AVE. All lanes closed.”, a full closure logged at 10:28 a.m. ET and last updated at 10:54 a.m. ET. GDOT does not say the two are connected, and this report does not connect them. WSB-TV's reference to east and west ramps is to the ramps at Moreland Avenue, not to I-285's westbound lanes.

More DeKalb County coverage is on our DeKalb County page, including an earlier I-285 accident at LaVista Road, and current road incidents across the state are collected on our Georgia traffic page.

Sources

511 Georgia — the Georgia Department of Transportation’s official traveler information system. Event ID 6009384, read directly from the Traffic list endpoint at 10:59 a.m. ET on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. Source for the roadway I-285, the verbatim description, the event type Incident Closures, the subtype “overturned vehicle,” the major severity, the full-closure flag, the eastbound direction, the 9:43 a.m. start, the 10:32 a.m. last update, the 10:13 a.m. anticipated end, the null locationDescription, detourDescription and comment fields, the GA-Events source ID 5566610, and the event’s presence on the active incident list at 10:59 a.m. ET. GDOT’s record is also the source for the Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026 date used throughout this report.
WSB-TV (Cox Media Group), “Overturned tractor-trailer on I-285 offramp shuts down traffic in DeKalb County,” datePublished 10:45:53 a.m. ET, Aug. 20, 2026. Sole source for the tractor-trailer identification, the lanes shut down on Moreland Avenue just off I-285, the closed east and west ramps to Moreland, the blockages at Moreland Avenue northbound at Cedar Grove Road and southbound at Henrico Road, the presence of police and fire officials, and the DeKalb Fire Rescue statement that the truck may have been leaking hazardous material and that it is now contained.
Not read for this report: no law enforcement or fire incident report was obtained directly, and no statement was taken from DeKalb Fire Rescue by this newsroom — the agency’s remarks reach this page through WSB-TV and are attributed that way throughout.

Reported and fact-checked as of 11:05 a.m. ET on August 20, 2026.

Every source linked here was opened and verified at that time. This is a developing incident: GDOT listed the closure as active at 10:59 a.m. ET and WSB-TV labeled its own story “DEVELOPING STORY.” This report reflects what was known and confirmed at that moment and is not updated automatically as a story develops.

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