Hwy. 60 in Butler Co. reopened after multiple crashes, slide-offs involving trooper, semis, tow trucks
BUTLER COUNTY, Mo. (KFVS) - Highway 60, from the Poplar Bluff City limits to Route T in Butler County, reopened shortly after 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, February 1, after multiple crashes.
According to Missouri State Highway Patrol, the roads were looking much better by Wednesday evening.
The Missouri Department of Transportation reported nearly all major highways in the state were clear, but there were still some roads in southeast Missouri impacted by the winter weather.
The slick weather kept tow truck drivers busy.
Seyer Towing Company in Cape Girardeau responded to a number of calls due to vehicles sliding into ditches and hitting curbs.
Owner Matt Seyer said they anticipated extra calls during winter weather, but it has tow truck drivers working extra hours.
“It’s more demand for the drivers,” he said. “They have to work harder and longer hours because they’re out in it and dealing with it, so sometimes we have to get extra people to run calls.”
They expect the calls due to the icy conditions to sow down again in the next couple of days.
Earlier on Wednesday, Sgt. Clark Parrott with the highway patrol said multiple semis jackknifed and multiple more vehicles were off the side of the highway.
One MSHP online report states, at 1:44 a.m. a semi started sliding on ice-covered Hwy. 60 and hit a tow truck. This caused a chain reaction.
The wrecker hit a MSHP trooper’s squad car and the semi hit another big rig and a second wrecker.
The trooper, Lee E. Hughes, suffered minor injuries.
No other injuries were reported.
Hughes’ squad car and the semi that hit it were totaled.
All lanes of Hwy. 60 were closed for several hours.
Sgt. Parrott said some semi truck drivers are traveling too fast for conditions and they have crashed into tow trucks and police cars.
He added first responders have been dealing with wrecks all night and through Wednesday morning.
Interstate 57 and Interstate 55 are ice covered.
Sgt. Parrott reports roads from the Bootheel north to the Cape Girardeau County line are a disaster.
According to the MSHP Troop E on Twitter, the winter weather totals from midnight until 2 p.m. on Wednesday included 118 calls for service, 41 stranded motorists and 53 crashes. They reported two injury crashes and zero fatalities.
Drivers are urged to stay home, but if travel is necessary, Parrott said he cannot stress enough that drivers need to slow down and not be distracted.
If you can’t stay home and have to get out, make sure to check road conditions before you go.
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