I-94 In Western Wisconsin Reopens After Icy Roads Led To Pile-Up

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Traffic was opened Thursday night on Interstate 94 in western Wisconsin following a road-closing pile-up on surfaces made slick by freezing rain.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation said Thursday night that a single eastbound lane of I-94 is open to traffic in both directions near Hixton, Wisconsin, where a morning pile-up resulted in multiple crashes and several jackknifed semis. The crashes happened after early morning freezing rain turned to ice on the roadways.

No one was killed or hurt in the crashes, and crews spent the better part of the day removing vehicles from the scene.

Kirsten Cullen, of Minneapolis, was driving home after picking up her daughter in Madison when she was forced to take a detour.

"We noticed that we saw an Amish family standing at the edge of the road looking perplexed about all the traffic," she told the WCCO affiliate in Eau Claire. "It was very bad."

Several other U.S. and state highways in the area were also closed Thursday because of ice-covered roads.