Tractor-trailer overturns on Interstate 55

By C.M. Schmidlkofer

Southeast Missourian

At about 8:40 a.m. Wednesday, a tractor-trailer southbound on Interstate 55 smashed into a construction sign telling drivers to merge to the right, and then rolled over into the median, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The single-vehicle accident occurred in an area where Missouri Department of Transportation has been laying cables in preparation for the new interchange just north of the Jackson/Cape Girardeau exit.

The driver, Jeffrey L. Northcutt, 34, of St. Mary, Mo., was taken to Saint Francis Medical Center with minor injuries, a hightway patrol report said.

Joe Steward, safety manager for MoDOT District 10, said the department is relocating cable in the median and did not know if motorists have hit the construction sign there in the past.

"We've had those boards hit before throughout the Cape and Scott City area," he said.

Steward said contract workers from Floyd's Inc. of Sikeston, Mo., were working on the highway at the time.

Owner Floyd Ferrell said he had not heard any details of the accident from workers.

carel@semissourian.com

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