I-40 closed in northeastern Arizona due to icy conditions

A 68-mile (109-kilometer) stretch of Interstate 40 in northeastern Arizona is closed because of icy conditions and multiple slide-offs and crashes.

The Arizona Department of Transportation says the closure Thursday morning is between near Holbrook and the Arizona-New Mexico border.

The department says workers are working to remove ice from the highway and that there’s no estimate on when it will reopen.

Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Kameron Lee says the closure follows six slide-offs, nine non-injury crashes and one injury crash since Wednesday evening.

He says the closure is “a pro-active measure” by authorities who are trying “to avoid any more crashes knowing the icy conditions of the road.”