Friday, Oct. 30, 2009

Highway 50, Illinois 161 closed by flooding

Two major metro-east roadways -- U.S. 50 east of O'Fallon and Illinois 161 near Scott Air Force Base -- were closed Friday morning by rising floodwaters.

The highway between O'Fallon and Lebanon was closed shortly after 7 a.m. when waters blocked traffic in the area. The same occurred on 161 close to the military base east of Belleville.

Flooding also closed an approach road near Eads Bridge near East St. Louis City Hall Friday morning, forcing motorists to turn around and find another way through downtown or onto Interstate 64.

At midday, floodwaters from Richland Creek had closed North End Park on Illinois 159 in Belleville, with water covering most of the park grounds east of the highway.

Floodwaters had also covered most of the parking lot at the Family Sportsplex on Illinois 177 east of Belleville.

The heavy rains across the state postponed one metro-east football playoff game originally scheduled for Friday evening. The Mascoutah at Rochester Class 4A game has been moved to 1 p.m. Saturday, and will be played at Illinois State University in Normal.

The metro-east has received an unusually large amount of rain this month, and particularly in the last few days. More rain is in the forecast for Friday before clearing skies enter the region Saturday.

Flood warnings remain in effect for the area; drivers are urged to avoid driving into standing water if it covers a roadway.

A rain-slick roadway apparently caused an accident on South Belt East in Belleville Friday morning; a pickup truck had slid off the road into a ditch near Walnut Hill Cemetery, causing some minor delays in the area as the truck was pulled out of the ditch.

It was not immediately clear if anyone had been hurt in the accident.