A bombastic blast of winter
Last night was the commute from hell on many of the region's roads, with slick driving conditions and street closures slowing the ride home.
Last night was the commute from hell on many of the region's roads, with slick driving conditions and street closures slowing the ride home.
Many reports made it seem as though a perverse Mother Nature had timed the sleet and freezing rain to coincide with the close of business.
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Gene Blaum said traffic was "relatively uneventful" until around 5 p.m. A fleet of 400 salt trucks was out from around noon and was scheduled to keep at it through the night. But an accident at Interstate 95 South at Broad Street during rush hour had a stretch of the interstate closed for much of two hours, Blaum said.
Accidents on other stretches interrupted traffic, including I-95 north at Front Street and the westbound Schuylkill Expressway at Girard Avenue, he said.
Also closed was the Commodore Barry Bridge, and a pileup was reported on the Walt Whitman Bridge.
No need to tell Frank Rosati about the mess. He left work in Center City at 5:05 p.m. and headed home to Ridley Park only to get caught in the I-95 backup. In traffic, he met up with a friend, also from Ridley Park. They thought about the Platt Bridge, but that was also closed, he said. So they made their way to the Penrose Diner and had dinner, hoping for better conditions.
Not a chance. Around 7:30 p.m., he was stuck in traffic on Oregon Avenue in South Philadelphia, talking on his cell phone and still a long way from home.
"It's not good," Rosati said. "It's ugly. It's really ugly out here."
The speed limit was reduced to 35 m.p.h. on the entire length of the New Jersey Turnpike because of the weather. On the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a jackknifed tractor-trailer last night caused stop-and-go traffic eastbound near the Downingtown exit.
In the Pennsylvania suburbs, police dispatchers said they had numerous reports of minor accidents.
Todd Neumann, a supervisor with the police radio system in Bucks County, said the traffic hassles in his area started around 1 p.m., with many businesses and schools closing early.
"It's been nonstop," he said.
In New Jersey, Admiral Wilson Boulevard, leading to the Ben Franklin Bridge, was closed in both directions by numerous accidents around 5 p.m., said Teresa Sicard Archambeault, a Camden police spokeswoman. Interstate 676 also had lanes closed in both directions due to accidents. She said traffic there "was still getting by, but slowly."
A stretch of Route 55 was closed in Mantua Township after a tanker truck carrying a hazardous load overturned.
Dispatchers in Camden, Burlington and Gloucester Counties reported a "crazy" rush hour with accidents all over the map, but no other major road closures were reported. Traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike was slowed to 35 m.p.h., with lane closures in Salem and Gloucester Counties.
Camden County officials warned people to stay off Route 130 due to treacherous conditions. In Cherry Hill, traffic around Route 70 was clogged due to icy conditions on the I-295 on-ramps.
