Two crashes nearly an hour apart on Interstate 35 in Johnson County brought traffic to a slow crawl in both directions on Thursday afternoon.
The Kansas Highway Patrol said the first crash happened on southbound Interstate 35 at U.S. 69 Highway in Lenexa at 2 p.m.
According to the highway patrol’s online crash log, three vehicles were in the same lane when traffic slowed.
The driver of a semi truck slowed for traffic ahead, causing the driver of an Infiniti SUV to rear-end the semi. The SUV then crossed into the next lane.
Highway patrol troopers said that’s when a BMW rear-ended the same semi.
Johnson County Med-Act paramedics transported the drivers of the Infiniti and the BMW to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Due to the closure of three southbound lanes at the exit for U.S. 69 Highway, traffic quickly slowed to a crawl and backed up nearly four miles to Antioch Road in Merriam.
About an hour later, at 2:58 p.m., the Highway Patrol said there was a four-vehicle crash on the northbound side of I-35 under the Antioch Road bridge in Merriam.
According to the highway patrol’s crash log of that incident, all vehicles were in the left lane when traffic stopped.
A Freightliner box truck crashed into the back of a Buick SUV. That started a chain reaction, with the Buick pushed into the back of a Ram pickup, which in turn hit a Toyota pickup.
Troopers said three of the drivers sustained minor injuries, and two of them were taken by ambulance to an area hospital.
The second crash caused northbound traffic to slow back to U.S. 69 Highway.
Both crashes were cleared, and all lanes were reopened to traffic before 4 p.m.
The crash logs for both crashes say all drivers were wearing seat belts.
