LOCAL

Rush-hour crash shuts down I-70

Phil Anderson
panderson@cjonline.com
A crash caused a major traffic tie-up on westbound I-70 coming into downtown Topeka on Thursday morning. [Phil Anderson/The Capital-Journal]

Two separate crashes during rush hour Thursday morning shut down part of Interstate 70 and caused a major traffic tie-up just east of downtown Topeka.

The crashes were reported about 7:45 a.m. on westbound I-70 near the S.E. Adams exit.

Police spokeswoman Gretchen Koenen said one crash was worked by the Topeka Police Department and the other by the Kansas Highway Patrol.

Two cars were involved in the first crash, and two cars were involved in the second.

Koenen said one person in the crash worked by Topeka police sustained minor injuries, but it wasn't known whether they were taken to a hospital.

 The crash appeared to have occurred just east of the S.E. Indiana Avenue overpass that spans I-70.

As crews responded to the crash, westbound traffic on I-70 was diverted about a half-mile east of the scene onto S.E. California Avenue. Two Topeka police officers directed traffic at the top of the westbound exit ramp at California. The westbound on-ramp to I-70 at California was closed to traffic for about an hour.

The collision on I-70 also resulted in extra traffic on streets in East Topeka as motorists navigated toward the downtown area.

Topeka Metro buses were rerouted after the crash because of traffic. The nearest on-ramp to westbound I-70 was just north of S.E. 8th Avenue.

Westbound traffic on I-70 was allowed to resume in a single lane past the scene about 8:45 a.m. Traffic proceeded slowly in the left lane as crews continued cleanup.