Interstate 70 reopens after hourslong shutdown on Missouri River bridge; crash caused by ‘unknown’ vehicle
Watch replay of live video from the scene.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Interstate 70 westbound at the Missouri River bridge reopened Tuesday afternoon more than five hours after a multi-vehicle crash shut it down.
Shortly after that, another crash backed up traffic on the detour route.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol said a little before 6 p.m. that a crash on Highway 40 north of Boonville was backing up traffic that was detoured around the earlier Interstate 70 closure. Traffic cleared up at 6:42 p.m.
After Interstate 70 was reopened, Boone County emergency dispatchers sent a public alert saying Highway 40 was closed in Howard County because of a "traffic incident."
MSHP later said the crash was backing up detour traffic -- Highway 40 was used as a detour route when I-70 was closed. The patrol encouraged drivers of passenger vehicles to turn around if they can.
"I-70 is a major roadway, traffic backs up extremely quickly," MSHP Cpl. Kyle Green, of Troop F, said.
A crash on US 40, north of Boonville, is causing a significant backup for the traffic that exited I-70 for the bridge crash earlier.
— MSHP Troop F (@MSHPTrooperF) June 6, 2023
Cars, trucks, vans and SUV’s should find a safe place to turn around and go eastbound on US 40 to Midway, so you can get back into westbound I-70. pic.twitter.com/wsiTaWzIhQ
Cause of I-70 crash
An MSHP reported stated the Interstate 70 crash involved at least six vehicles, including two tractor-trailers. One of those tractor-trailers was carrying cattle. Three cows died after jumping off the bridge, according to the Cooper County fire chief.
According to a crash report from the Missouri State Highway patrol, six vehicles were traveling west on interstate 70 over the Missouri River bridge. Traffic was slowing ahead due to construction which restricted traffic to one lane. An unknown vehicle swerved and braked abruptly in front of a 2011 GMC van, causing a chain reaction crash.
The GMC was driven by Tom Shipp, 37, of Russellville. It had minor damage and was driven from the scene.
The remaining five reported vehicles were totaled:
- 2011 Toyota Rav-4: Driven by Shannon Barnett, 32, of St. Charles;
- 2015 Ford F150: Driven by Randall Jostes, 61, of St. Charles;
- 2020 Ford F250: Driven by Thomas Yutzy, 28, of Linn;
- 2000 Peterbuilt tractor-trailer: Driven by Joseph Nelson, 30, of Sedalia;
- 2022 International tractor-trailers: Driven by Recardo Berrien, 44, of Moren Valley, California.
Jostes had minor injuries and was brought to University Hospital by ambulance, according to the crash report.
Cooper County Fire Chief Dave Gehm said Lunda Construction, who was working on the new bridge at the time of the crash, were very helpful in getting the person trapped out of his car.
"Lunda Construction who was right next door working on the bridge, they brought a great big crane over and they lifted the roof off for us after we cut it and they were great they also helped us carry the patient out," Gehm said.
A former Cooper County firefighter brought his personal cattle trailer to help transport the cattle safely away from the crash.
The Missouri Department of Transportation rerouted traffic down Highway 40. Eastbound traffic was reduced to one lane because of the crash response.
Columbia Public Schools sent a text to parents saying the crash could cause delays with summer school buses.
The crash happened a little after 10 a.m. It took first responders from Cooper County Fire Protection District about 5 minutes from getting the call to be on scene.
This is the other tractor trailer involved, which is being unloaded so it can be towed away. pic.twitter.com/gJiO6jOf4m
— MSHP Troop F (@MSHPTrooperF) June 6, 2023
Emergency responders were also sent to a call of a tractor-trailer on its side on nearby Route J several hours after the I-70 crash.
The six-hour delay caused a headache for semi-truck drivers, who rely on I-70 as a transportation hub.
"When accidents happen and delays happen and traffic gets back up for miles and miles it gets pretty frustrating for drivers trying to make deliveries," said Tom Crawford, president of the Missouri Truckers Association.
Crawford said the industry studies how delays, like the one Tuesday, affect their bottom line. The most recent study, done in 2016 by the American Trucking Research Institute, showed 1.5 billion hours a year are lost to traffic delays. The loss is the equivalent of losing over 400,000 truck drivers.
The semi-truck involved in Tuesday's crash lost it's inventory, canned drinks that were destroyed in the crash and clean up process.
"That's their livelihood, that's their only method of earning a living," Crawford said.
Check back for updates to this developing story.
