A 54-year-old Moscow Mills man suffered a medical episode behind the wheel Tuesday afternoon, sending his Chevrolet Impala careening across the median on U.S. Highway 61 in Pike County before it slammed into a ditch. He was airlifted to a St. Louis hospital with serious injuries following the single-vehicle crash.
The crash happened around 1:40 p.m. on southbound U.S. Highway 61, south of Route OO, according to Herald-Whig. The man had been driving his 2011 Chevrolet Impala northbound when the medical episode struck, causing the car to cross the center median and strike a ditch on the southbound side of the highway.
He was wearing a safety device at the time of the crash, the outlet reports, and despite that precaution he sustained serious injuries. He was transported by Air Evac 146 to Mercy Hospital St. Louis for treatment. The extent of his medical condition and any update on his recovery have not been released.
Impala Towed After Suffering Extensive Damage
The Chevrolet Impala received extensive damage in the crash and was towed from the scene by Jackson's Towing, per the same account. The Missouri State Highway Patrol investigated the wreck with assistance from the Pike County Sheriff's Office, according to the report.
Tuesday's crash adds to a string of serious wrecks that have put U.S. 61 under scrutiny this year, though those other incidents occurred roughly 60 miles south in St. Charles County and are not known to be connected to the Pike County crash. In June, a mother and her unborn baby were killed in a crash at the U.S. 61 and North Point Prairie Road crossover, according to First Alert 4. Earlier this month, a 29-year-old woman was killed and another person injured in a crash at the U.S. 61 and Dietrich Road crossover, with two more women hurt in a separate crash at the same crossover the following day, the station reported.
MoDOT Weighs $40 Million in Corridor Upgrades
Those repeated crashes have renewed pressure on the Missouri Department of Transportation, which is studying traffic safety, crash data and operations along U.S. 61 from the I-64/I-70 interchange to the Lincoln County line, according to MoDOT. Engineers have recommended building a grade-separated interchange at Highway W and U.S. 61 to replace the existing at-grade median crossover, the agency says.
Roughly $40 million has been allocated for corridor improvements that could begin construction in 2028, assuming the statewide transportation improvement program is approved, MoDOT notes. But as First Alert 4 points out, that timeline means the fixes are still years away even as crashes continue along the corridor.
A separate fatal wreck north of Wentzville, in St. Charles County, underscored the stretch's troubled recent history: a 60-year-old Wentzville woman died in a two-vehicle crash at U.S. 61 and North Point Prairie Road, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. No connection between that crash and Tuesday's incident in Pike County has been established.
