Heavy snow causes crashes, road closures in Centre County

Freezing and snow-covered road conditions in Centre County caused multiple vehicle crashes and road closures Friday morning, particularly in the western part of the county.

About 8 a.m., the Philipsburg Fire Department was dispatched to Port Matilda Highway, east of Thompson’s Curve, for multiple crashes between Philipsburg and the top of Port Matilda Mountain, according to a Facebook post from Hope Fire Company. U.S. 322 westbound and eastbound were shut down from Philipsburg to Port Matilda for about five hours.

State Route 350 in Rush Township was closed in both directions at State Street and Tyrone Pike for about five hours, with Mountain Top Fire Company urging drivers during the morning commute to find another route or stay home for the day.

A 45 mph speed restriction on Interstate 80 in Clearfield and Centre counties, where there were multiple crashes, was lifted Friday afternoon, according to PennDOT.

State Route 26 (McAlevys Fort Road) was closed between Pine Grove Road in Centre County and Charter Oak Road heading over Pine Grove Mountain due to a multivehicle crash, according to the Huntingdon County Emergency Management Agency and PennDOT. It reopened about 10:30 a.m.

Philipsburg-Osceola Area School District was closed Friday.

This story was originally published February 7, 2020 at 8:36 AM.