Semi driver dies in crash into overhead sign pole on I-435 in Kansas City
A semitractor-trailer driver died after crashing into an overhead sign pole Wednesday morning, shutting down northbound Interstate 435 and causing rush-hour backups, a Kansas City police spokesman said.
All lanes in both directions of I-435 on Kansas City’s East Side have reopened, and traffic has returned to normal.
The crash occurred shortly before 6:10 a.m. at mile marker 64.4, which is near where the highway passes under Sni-A-Bar Road, when the driver was northbound on I-435 from Eastwood Trafficway, said Capt. Jake Becchina of the Kansas City Police Department.
The driver weaved between two lanes of traffic and drove directly into a concrete overhead sign support pole. Emergency crews declared the driver dead at the scene.
Police continue to investigate why the driver was weaving and drove into the pole, Becchina said. The driver’s death is the 39th traffic fatality this year in Kansas City, compared to 42 deaths by this time last year.
The crash caused backups in both directions as all northbound lanes and two left lanes of southbound traffic were closed while emergency crews investigated, the Missouri Department of Transportation’s Kansas City District said in a post on X.
All lanes were reopened by 11:25 a.m., the transportation department said in a follow-up post on X.
