Chattanooga, Tenn. — A multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 75 northbound near East Brainerd Road caused serious traffic backups and sent 2 to the hospital Monday morning.
Chattanooga Police say preliminary details indicate one vehicle sideswiped another, pushing it into a third vehicle. The crash caused temporary lane closures on I-75 north Monday morning.
CPD says the extent of their injuries is unknown at this time. Two people were hospitalized after the three-vehicle crash snarled I-75 northbound near East Brainerd Road.
East Brainerd is Hamilton County largest suburban residential cluster, built around Hamilton Place Mall and the I-75 commercial corridor, drawing families with schools and shopping tied to that interstate access.
East Brainerd occupies the southeastern quadrant of Hamilton County in ZIP code 37421, bounded roughly by I-75 to the west, so a northbound crash near East Brainerd Road hits the same corridor residents use for daily commuting.
East Brainerd is the most heavily suburbanized quadrant of Hamilton County, built out primarily in the 1980s through 2000s along the I-75 corridor around Hamilton Place Mall, which makes Monday backups especially disruptive for local drivers.
Commuters using the I-75 commercial corridor through East Brainerd faced the temporary lane closures while police worked the three-vehicle scene and ambulances carried the two injured motorists from the northbound lanes.
Drivers headed toward Hamilton Place Mall and the Gunbarrel area off I-75 should expect lingering delays whenever a crash closes lanes on the same stretch that feeds East Brainerd daily traffic.