date
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recap
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September 13, 1999
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What it seems like a normal day turned scary during
the morning rush hour on a clear day. A truck driver from Chicago fails to pay attention
to slowing traffic on the westbound lanes, and it results in a chain-reaction
crash involving 16 vehicles. Three people (mostly Illinois residents
from nearby Madison County) were killed in the crash, and several others
are injured. The incident happened right in front of Aquinas-Mercy
High School, between the New Florissant and Hanley/Graham interchanges. (Contrary
of the media's belief that it happened at 170.) However, this incident
speed up efforts for total reconstruction of the 270-170 interchange, as
locals stormed the public hearing at Florissant Valley Community College
just six weeks after this accident.
The accident closed both directions of 270 for several hours, paralyzing
traffic in "Fatal Valley" for hours.
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October 28, 2002
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With a already-gimpy national media (thanks to September
11, 2001), an
explosion of a FedEx truck going eastbound on 270 at Bellefontaine not
only shuts down access to Illinois for eight hours during the afternoon rush
hour, it initially caused the national media to show live images on their
cable tv stations.
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January 25, 2003
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This water main break actually happened on Dunn Road
at Old Halls Ferry Road, but the water from the break gushed down the hill
and covered the westbound lanes of 270 in 2 feet of water. The westbound
lanes ended up closed for two hours, and it resulted in 20 mile backups,
which backed up westbound traffic well into Illinois.
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