IDOT worker, driver struck by passing vehicle on I-64

A state roadway worker and a man whose 2006 Mercury skidded off an Interstate 64 exit ramp to Illinois 111 in Washington Park were struck by a passing vehicle Wednesday.

Both men were taken to a St. Louis hospital “in very, very serious condition,” said Illinois State Trooper Calvin Dye Jr.

They remained in serious but stable condition Wednesday evening, according to authorities.

The state worker, a 52-year-old employee of the Illinois Department of Transportation who resides in Belleville, and the Mercury driver, a 39-year-old East St. Louis man, were standing near a Cahokia Towing tow truck when the crash occurred. Additional information about their identities was not immediately available. The state worker was assisting in traffic control as the Mercury was being towed out of the ditch.

The two men were standing together as the tow was completed, Dye said, when a 21-year-old Belleville woman struck them with a 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier. Dye said “she has been cooperative,” and he expected her to be cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. Her name was not immediately released because charges had not been filed.

Dye blamed the weather and speed as the cause of the crash.

Accident reconstructionists were on site, taking photographs and measurements.

The accident occurred on I-64 at the Illinois 111 interchange in Washington Park around 2 p.m. The ramp from the interstate’s westbound lanes onto northbound Illinois 111 was closed for two hours. It reopened around 4 p.m.

Witness Marvin Dear said he was near the ramp when he heard what sounded like a collision. He and two others went to the crash scene to investigate and saw two men lying in the roadway on the ramp. They also saw a silver Chevrolet Cavalier in the ditch, a tow truck and an IDOT truck parked on the ramp.

The witnesses reported seeing ambulances take the two men away to St. Louis area hospitals.

Dye said during inclement weather drivers should slow down and allow plenty of room between cars, even three car lengths.

Return to BND.com for more on this developing story.

This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 2:56 PM.