What does it take to close a highway or interstate during winter weather?

NEAR MAPLETON, N.D. (KVRR) – A crash involving 14 vehicles between Mapleton and Casselton on Monday may have you thinking what it takes to close down an interstate or highway.

Every storm the Highway Patrol works with the state’s Department of Transportation to evaluate road conditions and visibility for traffic speeds.

Monday’s storm cut across the southeastern corner of North Dakota more than it did the central part.

Troopers say in situations like these where visibility is an issue their lives are also at risk of being hit by oncoming traffic.

“We had a big crash, so other than that all day long we had single vehicle stuff there wasn’t a lot of extra calls yesterday. People did pretty well except for the one crash yesterday and that’s really what made the factor to close it was the one big crash, we knew we had very poor visibility in that exact location,” North Dakota Highway Patrol Lt. Troy Hischer said.

Authorities want the public to take the travel advisories and warnings seriously to avoid crashes.