FREEZING RAIN CAUSES HUNDREDS OF ACCIDENTS IN BUCKS, MONTCO, BURLINGTON; PA. TURNPIKE REOPENED
Posted: Sunday,
January 18, 2015 10:15 am | Updated: 12:36 pm, Sun Jan 18, 2015.
Freezing rain and icy roads have caused
hundreds of accidents in Bucks, Montgomery and Burlington counties Sunday
morning.Bucks County says there have been more than 100 accidents and some have involved emergency vehicles. New Jersey State Police said they have received reports of more than 420 accidents statewide as of noon, though no were serious or fatal. Montgomery County reported more than 75 weather-related accidents, according to the county Department of Public Safety.
State police in Philadelphia say a crash involving an estimated 30 to 50 vehicles on Interstate 76 early Sunday killed one person. The crash blamed on "flash-freezing" prompted closure of the highway in both directions.
State police in Delaware County say two people were killed in a crash involving multiple vehicles in the southbound lanes of Interstate 476 on Sunday morning.
PennDOT spokesman Eugene Blaum called the "flash-freezing" situation "very hazardous."
"The most difficult part about this is that a flash freeze like this, the moisture can freeze on contact with the pavement," he said.
In Lower Bucks, police in Middletown Township, Bensalem and Newtown Township are asking drivers to stay off the roads so that township highway departments and PENNDOT can treat the roads in an effort to melt the ice.
Buckingham Township police reported numerous accidents on Route 413 in front of Buckingham Elementary and I-95 at Woodbourne Road was also impacted.
Tinicum, Doylestown, Bristol, Perkasie, Upper Moreland, Maple Shade, Medford and Mount Laurel police have sent out similar warnings.
Accidents were reported throughout Burlington County. In Mount Laurel, Fire House Lane was reported closed as of 8:30 am between North Lake Drive and Elbo Lane due to an accident.
All Delaware River Port Authority bridges were shut down both ways in and out of Philadelphia for a time this morning, but all had been reopened in both directions by early afternoon with speed and lane restrictions. The Burlington County Bridge Commission reopened the Tacony-Palmyra and Burlington-Bristol bridges by late morning.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike was closed between Morgantown and the Delaware River Bridge around 8:30 am but reopened at noon with speed restrictions of 45 mph. Traffic was stopped between the Quakertown Interchange and the Mid-County Interchange on I-476 due to icy conditions. Speeds have been reduced on the New Jersey Turnpike.
Accidents also caused closures on I-95 in both directions in various locations in the region.
Blaum said temperature and precipitation conditions were perfect in some spots to create a serious hazard: a sheet of ice caused by light rain falling on cold surfaces.
PennDOT had nearly 150 trucks out treating roadways before the crash, when it became clear that conditions would be slippery.
A freezing rain advisory for the area expired at noon but a flood warning has been issued until 5:30 pm. Temperatures were forecast to rise into the 40s later Sunday.
Both SEPTA and New Jersey Transit halted bus service temporarily due to icy road conditions. SEPTA buses were back on the road by 11 am, as were most New Jersey Transit buses in South Jersey.
Kaitlyn Maier, of Philadelphia, said she came upon the I-76 accident moments after it happened as she was driving with her boyfriend to her niece's baptism, which she missed.
"Ten minutes before I was asking him, what is this? Rain, or what?" said Maier, who said she was 10 to 15 cars behind the wreck and saw smoke pouring from one vehicle. The line of crashed cars extended around a bend in front of her.
Maier said emergency responders directed her and other drivers to turn around on the highway and drive eastbound on the westbound side to the next exit.
Within the next several minutes, Maier saw two cars collide and two other accidents that had just happened. They decided to stop at a diner to wait until the roads cleared.
"I've driven through snow a lot, and this isn't like anything I've ever driven in," said Maier, who was raised in upstate New York. "We were stopped for a while on the side of the road. I was going less than 10 mph, but I had no control of my vehicle."
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Massive Pileup Closes Interstate 76
in Pennsylvania; Icy Travel Causing Accidents, Delays, Closures
A multi-vehicle crash due to icing has closed Interstate 76 in both directions in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Sunday morning. Ice was also causing major travel problems in parts New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.
ABC 6 reports that the I-76 crash, which happened right before 7 a.m. local time, is one of many spin-ups in the area caused by freezing rain on the roads.
"With subfreezing air in place to start Sunday morning, locations from southeast Pennsylvania to southern New England have seen light freezing rain and freezing drizzle. Even a small amount of ice can cause major travel problems like we've seen this morning. By lunchtime, temperatures should rise above freezing, ending the icing threat," weather.com meteorologist Chris Dolce said.
Although it's still unclear whether there are injuries from the crash, NBC Philadelphia reports that over two dozen cars, possibly as many as 60, were involved in the pileup.
Area bridges across the Delaware River in Philadelphia are closed as of Sunday morning, as well:
In Bucks County, Pennsylvania alone, government officials reported more than 100 accidents this morning. Some of these included EMS vehicles.
Elsewhere, icing is causing heavy traffic, slow downs and accidents from New Jersey and southeast New York (near New York City) to Connecticut.
Steve Schapiro, communications director of New Jersey DOT, told WNBC that road conditions are very dangerous in north-central New Jersey and parts of southern New Jersey. He said that hundreds of DOT crews were out spreading salt and encouraged drivers to stay home until temperatures warm up.
The New Jersey State Police reported on Sunday morning that 366 accidents had occurred in the state since midnight due to the slick roads.
New Jersey Transit bus services have been suspended until roads have been salted:
NBC in New York City said that eastbound lanes of the Long Island Expressway were closed at the Queens Midtown Tunnel due ice. In addition, the Goethals bridge and the Outerbridge Crossing were closed in both directions.
For a time on Sunday morning, the New York Thruway was closed in both directions from Newburgh to New York City, according the lohud.com.
Bus service in the Bronx has been suspended and other areas are running on a delay:
In Connecticut, this Vine video from Dan Amarante showed a multi-car accident on I-84 near New Britain due icing. The Connecticut DOT reported that I-84 was closed between exits 33 and 35 because of the accident.
NBC Connecticut says that traffic cameras on I-95 from Greenwich to Bridgeport showed hundreds of cars stopped and multiple accidents. One accident near New London reportedly caused six injuries.