Northbound U.S. 65 could be closed until 5 p.m.
Here is the News Leader report. Glad to hear that there are no serious injuries. This is gong to make the drive home for many (including me) a lot more difficult. Be prepared to wait and don't make the situation any worse by causing another car crash.
Here is the video link
Northbound U.S. 65 could be closed 8-9 hours
NEWS-LEADER STAFF • JANUARY 21, 2009
Springfield police estimate it will take eight to nine hours to clear a section of northbound U.S. 65 after a semi truck crashed on a section of the highway crossing over Catalpa Street.
Police are rerouting traffic around the crash, which occurred about 10 a.m. when the tractor-trailer struck the highway guard rail, ripping off one of its rear axles.
Lt. Kirk Manlove said damage to the truck and bridge are the cause of the expected delay.
“(The Missouri Department of Transportation) needs to look at the bridge and make sure that there’s no structural damage,” he said. “There’s quite a bit of debris that needs to be picked up ...
“It’s just going to take some time.”
In the meantime, northbound 65 will remain closed from Sunshine Street to Chestnut Expressway, Manlove said.
Motorists are being diverted onto Sunshine and may continue north on other routes, but Manlove warned that Eastgate Avenue — a two-lane street running parallel to 65 on the east — is extremely congested and drivers should consider taking Glenstone Avenue north to Chestnut.
The Springfield Fire Department, MoDOT, and Missouri Highway Patrol commercial vehicle inspectors were assisting on the scene, police said.
Firefighters were working to contain and clean up diesel fuel leaked from the damaged vehicle, but none had caught fire, Manlove said.
No other vehicles were damaged during the initial crash and the truck’s driver — who has not been identified — did not appear to have been seriously injured.
When approached at the scene, the driver told a News-Leader reporter he did not want to comment on the record.
A witness, Craig Jackson, said he saw the truck swerve then slide along the railing of the bridge.
“We went up to the driver and asked him what happened, if he fell asleep or anything, and he said ‘I don’t know what happened,’” Jackson said.
“He was over here in the slow lane, looked like he swerved to the fast lane, heard a big bang, saw smoke flying ...
“The truck took a sharp turn and he went sliding right down the bridge. He’s lucky he didn’t go off of it.”
