Officials look for cause of 3-mile-long orange streak on Illinois freeway

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. -- It's not quite the highway beautification Illinois transportation officials had in mind.

Authorities on Friday continued trying to ferret out what caused a three-mile streak of a bright orange substance, possibly paint, in the westbound lanes of Interstate 55-70 near East St. Louis during Thursday morning's rush-hour.

Theresa Fry said she was commuting to St. Louis when she saw a tractor-trailer spilling the substance.

"My guess was he hit a bump and a drum of the paint was knocked over and began pouring out under the door, over his back bumper," she said. "With the way people were just driving through it, there are going to be lots of cars with orange tires and orange paint speckles."

Authorities say the truck may have broken various laws, from releasing a hazardous or injurious material on the road to defacing lane markings considered traffic-control devices.