BREAKING (literally): Interstate 20 westbound shut down due to cracks

UPDATE: GDOT reports that up to three westbound lanes of Interstate 20 will be open by 5 p.m. Officials say the entire interstate should be open again by noon Tuesday.

Until lanes open, GDOT says westbound traffic on I-20 is not being permitted to enter the Perimeter, as this graphic illustrates:

GDOT

Metro Atlanta’s monumentally horrible month for interstate traffic continues as a section of Interstate 20 buckled this morning, shutting down all westbound lanes and leaving another section of busy freeway deserted.

Between Candler and Gresham roads near East Atlanta, all lanes of I-20 west were closed about 11:30 a.m. and remained blocked off this afternoon, following what police described to the AJC as an underground gas leak that forged the inner lanes into a large, jagged hazard.

As with the collapsed section of I-85 north of Midtown, authorities are advising drivers to avoid the area. For now, Westbound motorists on I-20 are being asked to exit at Flat Shoals Road and take Cook Road to reenter the interstate.

Georgia Department of Transportation crews are on the scene to begin repairs now.

Witnesses told the AJC a motorcyclist hit the damaged roadway and crashed, his bike eventually landing 50 yards away.

The I-20 situation is the latest surreal incident involving Atlanta interstates since a March 30 inferno rendered I-85 useless between the Brookwood split and I-285. Just this morning, a chemical spill closed all lanes of The Connector in Midtown and downtown, which have since reopened.

Perhaps this obvious MARTA advocate best summed up the situation with this tweet:

Twitter.

We’ll continue to monitor the I-20 malfunction and post updates here.

• BREAKING: All lanes on I-20 West closed after highway buckles [AJC]
• UPDATED: Atlanta traffic woes grow with Connector closed in downtown [Curbed]