Weekend winter weather conditions cause crashes and road closures
Freezing rain and ice caused accidents and road closures throughout central Pennsylvania on Saturday morning heading into the early afternoon.
Though several major roadways were closed at different points throughout the day, none of the accidents appeared to yield major injuries, according to 911 dispatch.
Interstate 80 westbound was closed for about two hours between the Kylertown (133) and Woodland (123) exits due to a crash that happened Saturday morning. PennDOT reported the road was reopened at 11:15 a.m. with one lane operating. The road was eventually cleared after noon, according to 511pa.com.
911 dispatch reported a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of state Route 350/Tyrone Pike and Dale Road in Rush Township with one injury of unknown extent and possible entrapment at 9:52 a.m. Mountain Top Fire and EMS and Moshannon Valley EMS responded to the scene and assisted in transporting the patient to Mount Nittany Medical Center.
The weather also affected the Pennsylvania Turnpike, where a crash happened around 11 a.m. between Breezewood and Fort Littleton at mile 172 causing the right lane to be blocked and stopped or slowed traffic.
The Borough of State College tweeted around 11:30 a.m. that the air temperature was about 29-33 degrees and that operators were reporting the rain was freezing on their snow plows.
A crash on U.S. Route 22 westbound heading toward Lewistown at 11:14 a.m. closed all lanes between the Newport/New Bloomfield exit and one mile west of the Millerstown exit for about an hour. A crash on Route 22 eastbound disrupted traffic between the Gallitzin exit and the Hollidaysburg/Duncansville exit for about two hours.
On Interstate 99 southbound, a crash outside State College that happened around 11:30 a.m. disrupted Penn State game day traffic between Exit 73 State College/Lewistown and one mile south of Exit 73. Alpha Fire Company and Centre LifeLink EMS responded. The scene was cleared around 12:30 p.m.
Around 11:40 a.m., a vehicle accident with injury happened around mile marker 134 on I-80 east in Clearfield County.
Another vehicle accident on I-80 westbound in Centre County happened around 12:30 p.m. when a vehicle went off the roadway causing injuries around Exit 158: Alternate U.S. 220 South/PA 150 Milesburg in Boggs Township. Logan, Undine, Milesburg and Citizen’s fire companies and Bellefonte fire police responded. The crash was cleared around 1:30 p.m.
A crash on I-80 eastbound at 1:13 p.m. about three miles east of Exit 178: 220 North/Lock Haven caused traffic delays heading east toward State College/Bellefonte. The accident was cleared around 2 p.m.
Around 2:30 p.m., the National Weather Service in State College reported that steady rain and freezing rain had ended in the western portion of central Pennsylvania as of mid-afternoon. It warned motorists traveling late in the afternoon and early evening to use caution as icy spots would still be possible on untreated surfaces.
At 2:53 p.m. Centre Hall Fire Company received a call about a vehicle fire in the 3000 block of General Potter Highway in Potters Mills Gap. The fire is caused traffic delays on U.S. Route 322/General Potter Highway between state Route 144 and Bloom Road in both directions and there was a lane restriction. The scene was cleared shortly before 5 p.m.
A multi-vehicle crash on U.S. Route 220 northbound at around 3 p.m. between Exit 109 Mill Hall/Flemington and Exit 111 Lock Haven/Castanea caused traffic disruptions for about an hour before it was cleared.
PennDOT was out treating the roads all day and state police are investigating crashes.
This story was originally published November 24, 2018 at 10:45 AM.