CONSTRUCTION CAUSES HUGE ILLINOIS INTERSTATE BACKUP

Despite adverse weather, the four-day Thanksgiving holiday period passed without traffic fatalities in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois.

Statewide, the Missouri Highway Patrol said 13 people were killed in traffic accidents during the period, three fewer than the 16 killed during the same period last year.

No traffic-related deaths were reported during the period from 6 p.m. Wednesday through midnight Sunday by the Missouri Highway Patrol at Sikeston or Illinois State Police Post 22 at Ullin.

But it could have been a lot worse, said Master Sgt. Jim Warder, District 22 desk sergeant.

A major traffic jam developed Sunday afternoon near the junctions of I-57 and I-24 south of Marion as traffic slowed and backed up 10 to 12 miles south of the junction.

"The problem was caused by the on-going construction on I-57 near the junction of the two interstates," said Warder. "The contractor had narrowed the two lanes on the interstate down to one lane at a point near the truck scales. In effect, we had two lanes of northbound traffic coming from I-24 and two lanes of northbound traffic northbound on I-57. The four lanes of traffic were being forced to merge at the junction of the two interstates and pass through the single morthbound lane at the construction site.

"Because of the heavy volume of holiday traffic, it didn't take long for the back up to start."

Warder said at one time during the afternoon, northbound traffic on I-57 was backed up 12 miles to the south, to the Route 146 on-ramp east of Anna. On I-24, traffic was backed up over 10 miles to the Goreville exit southeast of Marion.

One witness caught in the traffic tie-up south of Marion said as he came around a curve he could see hundreds of taillights stretching bumper to bumper as far up the interstate as the limited visibility permitted.

Warder said he feared the worst when calls started coming in about 12:45 p.m. reporting a large backup of traffic was occurring on I-57 and I-24, south of Marion.

"At first we thought a major traffic accident had occurred somewhere on the interstate. All I could think about was the I-5 pileup in California last week. But instead of sand, we had light rain and fog," Warder said.

It took about 2 hours, but the contractor sent someone to move the barricades, allowing both lanes to be used.

In the meantime, Warder sent six state police cars to the scene. Several officers directed traffic at the junction of the two interstates while others drove their patrol cars south on I-57 and I-24 and set up alongside of the highways to warn motorists traveling at high speeds to slow down for the slow-moving traffic. As a result only one accident involving four cars occurred.

Authorities said the traffic tie-up at the junction of the two interstates caused traffic in the southbound lanes of I-57 to back up as far north as Marion.