Westbound lanes of I-70 closed near Boonville, Mo.

BOONVILLE, Mo. (AP) -- Cross-state traffic was disrupted Friday in Missouri after separate truck and train accidents closed portions of the main highway and railroad between St. Louis and Kansas City.

Both accidents happened near Boonville, a Missouri River community in the center of the state.

"Traveling east-west across Missouri is a serious problem today," said Jeff Briggs, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Transportation.

A westbound stretch of Interstate 70 near Boonville was closed after an 8:30 a.m. accident involving a tractor-trailer truck caused significant damage to the support columns of an overpass.

Motorists were being detoured about 20 miles onto U.S. 40 at Midway, which takes them through Boonville before rejoining I-70. The interstate is the most heavily traveled highway in Missouri, carrying about 30,000 vehicles a day.

Both lanes of eastbound I-70 remained open.

Inspectors from the Missouri Department of Transportation were assessing the damage Friday to determine what repairs would be needed to reopen I-70. There was no timetable for the road to open.

Meanwhile, one of the two railroad tracks between Kansas City and the capital of Jefferson City remained closed Friday after a coal train derailed Thursday evening on Union Pacific tracks.

The accident happened near Lamine, a small town just west of Boonville and just off of I-70. Transportation officials said there was no connection between the accidents.

Between 40 and 60 trains daily travel the two east-west routes across Missouri, including two daily Amtrak passenger trains that run between St. Louis and Kansas City.

Amtrak canceled its Missouri train service Friday and said there could be delays of up to two hours for its passengers who were being loaded on buses.

Freight train traffic was being diverted to other tracks.

"However, there are so many freight trains out there, the congestion on that route would just be horrendous," said Jan Skouby, the railroads administrator for the state transportation department.

Skouby said the train tracks were expected to reopen Friday night, with Amtrak train service expected to resume Saturday.