MATTOON -- The Illinois State Police is alerting drivers of an accident that has occurred in Coles County near Mattoon.

Troop 7 troopers are on the scene of a minor multi-vehicle personal injury crash on Interstate 57 southbound near milepost 182. That is two miles south of Mattoon and milepost 184, which is the Illinois Route 16 exit.

Both lanes of southbound traffic are currently blocked while efforts to recover the vehicles are underway. Southbound traffic will be diverted onto Illinois Route 45 at exit 184.

Commuters should avoid the area whenever possible. Troop 7 will provide updates as progress is made.

An update at 1:39 p.m., ISP reported a crash amidst the backed-up traffic. As a result, Troopers are working on diverting traffic from I-57 South at Exit 192. This is Coles County 1000 North. Traffic can continue west then south on Route 45. They will be able to re-enter I-57 traffic at Exit 184 on the south side of Mattoon.

This story will be updated as new updates from ISP is available.

For more local news, follow Heartland Newsfeed at @HLNF_Bulletin on Twitter.

Additionally, you can follow Heartland Newsfeed on Facebook and Reddit among other platforms. You can now follow our news updates on Telegram, Flote, and MeWe.

Support independent journalism. Become a patron on Patreon for as little as $1 a month. There are other donor options as well.

Get the latest news updates on our radio network via Spreaker, TuneIn, and other platforms.