Crash, road closure on Dixie Drive compounds holiday weekend traffic

ST. GEORGE — Heavy holiday weekend traffic was further congested by a collision that shut down northbound Dixie Drive Friday afternoon.

A collision between a pickup truck and semitractor-trailer closed northbound Dixie Drive, St. George, Utah, Feb. 12, 2021 | Photo by Alexa Morgan, St. George News

The crash occurred at approximately 12:50 p.m. near 1750 S. Dixie Drive. Officer Tiffany Atkin with the St. George Police Department told St. George News that the driver of a red pickup truck was traveling southbound on Dixie Drive when he suddenly swerved across the median and collided with a semitractor-trailer heading northbound.

“The red pickup truck, for an unknown reason right now, crossed over the median and hit this diesel,” Atkin said. “We’ve got accident reconstruction coming out to investigate.”

The semitractor-trailer jackknifed and spilled most of the load of sand in its side dump trailer. Both vehicles and the resulting debris blocked the northbound lanes and brought southbound traffic to a crawl.

The driver of the semitractor-trailer was transported to St. George Regional Hospital by ambulance. His condition is unknown at this time. Atkin said the driver of the pickup truck was not injured despite the extensive damage to his vehicle.

A collision between a pickup truck and semitractor-trailer closed northbound Dixie Drive, St. George, Utah, Feb. 12, 2021 | Photo by Alexa Morgan, St. George News

Both northbound lanes will remain closed while the accident reconstruction and cleanup process continues. Atkin advised drivers to avoid South Dixie Drive and watch for updates on the St. George Police Department Facebook page.

At approximately 3 p.m., Atkin said they were working on another major crash at about 1150 South Dixie Drive. Northbound is shut down completely and will be for three to four hours while southbound is down to one lane. Atkin also said they were seeing many people on their phones while driving and advised people to stay off their phones, especially when driving past the crash scene with emergency personnel around.

This report is based on statements from police, emergency personnel or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

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