EL PASO, Ill. - An Illinois pileup involving over 100 vehicles was reported Thursday night amid a severe winter storm, shutting down a 30-mile stretch of the highway for hours.
Interstate 39 was closed through Friday between Normal to Minonk due to the pileup, the Illinois Department of Transportation said.
Both directions eventually reopened nearly 24 hours later. Normal, Illinois is part of the Bloomington metropolitan area and is located about 130 miles southwest of Chicago.
Minonk is about 29 miles north of Normal. The Illinois State Police first responded around 3:15 p.m. local time to a multi-vehicle crash on the southbound side of I-39 at milepost 9, close to the town of El Paso.