Friday morning snow snarled traffic, caused accidents

In St. Clairsville, a parked wreck truck suddenly slid over a hill.

The road had to be closed, and it took a while to get it out.

At the Ohio State Highway Patrol, every trooper was responding to numerous accidents.

“Oh, we had a lot of people stuck, a lot of people stuck in ditches,” said Sgt. Joe Weaver of the Ohio State Highway Patrol. “We had a lot of crashes, several with injuries.”

Drivers described the roads in one word: “bad.”

“It was bad — the roads were really bad,” said Crystal Vargo of Bridgeport, “you couldn’t even see to drive. We had to get towed out of the driveway. We had a flat. I live on Blaine-Chermont and it was bad. They plowed but it doesn’t help.”

Even seeing the lines on the road was difficult.

“They were trying to put salt down the center line so you’d know where the center line was,” said Joe Sanati of Flushing. “Other than that, it was pretty bad.”

In West Virginia, accidents in the Dallas Pike area of I-70 shut down the interstate in both directions. In the eastbound Wheeling Tunnel, a giant icicle has motorists worrying about what happens when it melts and falls.

Division of Highways officials said they were too busy to talk on the subject.

Overall, the snow took the Ohio Valley by surprise, and some places are still trying to dig out.

“The main roads are getting a lot better but the back roads and the secondary roads are still very slippery and not treated,” Sgt. Weaver said.

He gave credit to everyone from ODOT to the county and township road crews.

He said they had every available person out on the roads, but they just couldn’t keep up with the snow.