Traffic flows again on Highway 63 after morning crash

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) -

Highway 63 reopened Thursday morning north of Columbia after a crash shut it down.

First responders shut down the highway north of the intersection with Range Line Street.

Boone County Joint Communications sent an alert just before 9:30 a.m. An ABC 17 News reporter saw one northbound lane and both southbound lanes open just before 11:30 a.m.

Boone County Fire Protection District Lieutenant Joey Rimel said the department had six apparatus and 10 total personnel responding to the incident.

Lieutenant Kaila Pollard with Boone County Fire confirmed no one was injured during the incident. Pollard said they believed the first semi-truck hauling lumber hydroplaned and overturned off the highway. The second semi-truck attempted to stop and veered into the Southbound Lanes.

An ABC 17 News photographer said traffic was at a standstill heading northbound on Highway 63. One truck was seen on its side off the northbound lanes, with lumber scattered around it. First responders also helped move a flatbed trailer with tractors on it from the southbound lanes.

This specific turn on Highway 63 tends to collect water after rainfall and Rimel said the department has seen a lot of cars hydroplane in this area.

"Especially when the water rises, when we start getting, like, significant rain, that corner of 63 northbound gets water over the roadway, and people hydroplane quite frequently and end up in that east side ditch into the cliff face," said Rimel.

Emergency crews have already worked several large crash scenes Thursday morning as rain fell. A semi truck crashed on Interstate 70 near Highway 63 around 3:30 a.m., causing closures and delays for two hours.

Rimel said semi-trucks accidents are common because of the weight distribution in the vehicle however, weather related collisions are common with all vehicles.

"A common problem is we see their axles fall off the roadway into the soft ground, and it grabs, and that causes them to overturn just because of the top weight," said Rimel. "When it gets to a weather day like today,  whether it's rain or snow, whatever it may be, usually we see an influx of collisions. Not all of them are semis or commuter vehicles."

The main factor of weather-related collisions is due to drivers not adapting their driving habits to the road conditions, according to Rimel.

"It's just high speed. That's the problem, people especially 63 or 70 with this being a kind of a traffic corridor for the entire state," said Rimel. "Most times, people are coming from different areas on long car rides or whatever it may be, and they're traveling at highway speeds or not paying attention to the road conditions as they change and progress throughout their travel."

To stay safe while driving, Rimel is recomening drivers prepare for their travel and pay attention to the road ahead to help prevent collisions.

Wear your seatbelt, travel safe speeds, plan your routes, be aware of, also, emergency vehicles on the roadway anticipate yielding for them," said Rimel.