Less than 30 minutes after returning home from work this afternoon, I
heard sirens and helicopters.  The local 5PM news reported a 4-vehicle
collision (car, SUV, pickup and semi) on southbound US 71 near MO 150
in Grandview, closing US 71 for over 2 hours.  Unfortunately, the
station didn't have its report on the Web site, probably because
collisions are too common in the KC area for wasting Web pages.

Traffic on US 71 was backed up almost to I-435, and MO 150 was backed
up in both directions for miles.  A coworker who stopped by later
reported having to reroute along several city streets to avoid it.

I saw the helicopters nearby until almost sunset.  To think I managed
to avoid it by a normal early departure (work 7:15-3:45) was sobering.

I knew it was bad when 18-wheelers were using nearby residential
streets (visible from home) to make progress.  Bet the neighbors were
PO'd over that.  GPSTroll would be thrilled.