‘It was bad everywhere,’ Youngstown police say of Saturday road conditions

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A truck jackknifed on Interstate 680 near the Glenwood Avenue exit about 6:30 p.m. Saturday, and a part of the road was blocked, according to Youngstown police.

“It was bad everywhere,” the afternoon shift commander for said when asked to summarize what areas were worst hit by accidents.

He said he wasn’t aware of a jacknifed truck. Secondary roads that had not been salted were still slippery at 9 p.m., another officer said.

The trouble apparently began around 6 p.m. when a thin layer of ice covered most roads, including Fifth, Belmont and Wick avenues into downtown Youngstown.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Canfield post reported that state Route 11 and Interstate 76/80 were also among the worst areas for accidents.

The patrol handled a large number of accidents in Columbiana County also, the Columbiana County Sheriff’s Office reported.

The situation was similar in Trumbull County, where accidents started to be reported about 3 p.m. but intensified from 5 to 6 p.m. The number of accidents had died down by 9:30 p.m.

“It was spread out along the [state Route 5] Bypass, [state Routes] 82 and 11, Interstate 80,” said Erich Luketic, a supervisor at the county 911 center.

The roads got icy and caused problems until salt trucks treated them, he said, adding that only minor injuries were reported.

Lawrence County 911 reported that there had been only a couple of accidents there Saturday night.

The OSHP’s Southington Post responded to numerous accidents, but none resulted in serious injuries, a dispatcher said.

A two-car accident in the eastbound lane of Interstate 80 just east of the Hubbard exit backed up traffic about a mile about 4:30 p.m.