FEBRUARY 17, 2015
PITTSBURGH, PA (KDKA) –
Multiple accidents, one of them fatal,
along Interstate 70 in Washington County had traffic backed up for miles well
into Monday afternoon.
The accidents happened between mile markers 6 and 11 around
6:30 a.m.
One of the accidents involved two tractor-trailers in the
westbound lanes just before Taylorstown. As a result of the crash, one of the
trucks went off the road and over a hillside and into a creek.
One of truck drivers passed away from his injuries this
afternoon at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital. The Allegheny County Medical
Examiner’s Office identifies him as 53-year-old Bradley Collins, of
Bloomingburg, Ohio. He got out of his
rig and was hit by a tractor trailer.
One westbound lane of Interstate 70 between Taylorstown and
Claysville is now open as crews work to remove the remnants of that accident.
A cab of one of the rigs ended up down a steep hillside.
Neighbors say it woke them up from bed Tuesday morning.
“Since we live relatively close to the interstate, about
6:30 this morning, I heard a lot of crashing, crinkling and banging. So, you
can only assume one thing – that there’s an accident on Interstate 70,” Shari
Brownlee said.
State Police from the Washington Barracks say troopers were
stretched thin due to the crash and numerous others on I-70 to Interstate 79
Tuesday morning.
The cleanup and the investigation affected traffic well into
the afternoon. Interstate 70 was shut down for multiple hours.
KDKA passed Exit 15 on I-70 west at Chestnut Street in
Washington at 12:09 p.m. That’s where the backup began.
Finally at 2:24 p.m., we got to the exit that moved all
westbound traffic onto Route 221 at Taylorstown. That’s two hours and thirteen
minutes to travel four miles.
The gas station there was busy.
“Too long, too long,” said Jeff Riggle, who was stuck in
traffic. “I was running out of gas. If we couldn’t have got off here, I don’t
know what I was going to do.”
Laurel Lipnos of Columbus, Ohio, was exhausted.
“It was miserable,” she said. “Two-plus hours? What… four
miles? Side by side, next to you, not moving at all,” she said.