» Driver sped through 9 barriers in wrong-way crash,

Three drivers taken to hospital with injuries, spokesman says.

More than five hours after I-75 express lanes in Henry County were shut down due to a wrongway driver who went through nine barriers before a head-on crash, authorities reopened the reversible toll system.

While northbound traffic resumed about 11:45 a.m. Friday, Georgia Department of Transportation crews were still on site just before 1 p.m. making repairs to damaged gates. The system is expected to remain northbound until those repairs are complete, according to GDOT. The agency is in the process of reversing the lanes now, and “it should be open by the afternoon rush hour” for southbound traffic, GDOT spokeswoman Natalie Dale told AJC.com.

Officers were first called to the scene of the wreck, near mile marker 226 in Stockbridge, about 6:15 a.m., Henry County police spokesman Sgt. John Davis said.

The driver of a small sedan was trying to head southbound when the lanes were flowing north for the morning commute and crashed head-on into another vehicle, according to police. That vehicle was hit from behind by a third northbound vehicle.

Davis said preliminary findings suggest the driver of the sedan may have been intoxicated. However, that has not been confirmed. The sedan went through eight warning stop arms and one large metal barrier gate before entering wrongway traffic, according to GDOT.

All three drivers were taken to area hospitals for treatment. The extent of their injuries was not known Friday morning, Davis said.

Traffic reporter Mark Arum said the wrong-way crash was “something that I don’t believe has ever happened before in the express lanes” since they opened in Henry County in 2017.

At one point, the crash blocked the express lanes and one left lane on both sides of I-75 at the I-675 interchange.

JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM After the accident on the I-75 express lanes Friday in Henry County, authorities work to clear the scene of the multi-vehicle wreck and redirect traffic.