A multiple vehicle traffic crash, reportedly a fatal accident, led to traffic delays for several hours on Wednesday afternoon and night in Fayette County. WKRV-WPMB was first alerted to the traffic issues by Vandalia Police Jeff Ray at 2:55 pm, when he reported that I-70 westbound was shut down at the 68 mile marker–the Brownstown exit–due to a fatal crash in between the Vandalia and Brownstown exits in the westbound lanes. Just a few minutes later, at 3:08 pm, Illinois State Police sent out an email alert that stated “Due to a traffic crash in construction zone at I-70 milepost 65, westbound Interstate 70 traffic will be rerouted to U.S. Route 40 at milepost 68.” Emergency personnel then worked to deal with the crash that occurred in the construction area, further complicating issues, while law enforcement worked to get traffic flowing off of I-70 and onto Route 40 and thru Vandalia. This led to a major back up of traffic on Interstate 70 westbound, with drivers report being stopped on the interstate for several hours. There was some confusion on when I-70 westbound officially opened. But, as of 9:30 pm, traffic was still being rerouted onto Route 40 and moving slowly west thru Bluff City and into Vandalia—with a line of vehicles and semis as far as you could see. At 10:01 pm, the Illinois State Police sent out an email alert that the left lane of Interstate 70 was now open. And, and 11:52, ISP sent out another alert that Interstate 70 was now open and the crash scene had been cleared. As for the accident, the Illinois State Police has not yet released the information at this time.