Interstate 77 reopens after downed power lines closed highway in Charlotte, NCDOT says

A complete shutdown of Interstate 77 overnight in south Charlotte was due to a train coming into contact with low-hanging power lines late Sunday, a Norfolk Southern spokesperson told The Charlotte Observer.

The closure, which began around 11 p.m. Sunday, included all interstate lanes between Tyvola and Woodlawn roads, officials said.

Traffic was moving by 9 a.m., the North Carolina Department of Transportation said on DriveNC.gov.

The highway shut down between exits 5 and 6, officials said.

A Norfolk Southern train struck the power lines Sunday night, a Norfolk Southern spokesperson told the Observer by email.

“We worked with Duke energy to hold train traffic while they worked to make repairs,” the email said.

Duke Energy officials confirmed a Norfolk Southern freight train damaged the lines, causing nearly 3,000 customers to lose power.

The outages Monday morning affected schools in the area, with one closing and one moving students to online instruction. Repairs were completed by 11:30 a.m., according to the utility’s outage map.

The Performance Learning Center switched to remote learning, and Nations Ford Elementary School closed on Monday, CMS said. Both schools are on Nations Ford Road near I-77.

Students that were bused to the center were dismissed at 9:30 a.m., CMS said.

Nations Ford will have a makeup day in the future, the school district said.

Observer staff writers Anna Maria Della Costa and Kallie Cox contributed.

This story was originally published September 19, 2022 at 6:44 AM.