Snow-covered, slippery roads lead to multiple crashes, road woes

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Roads and highways throughout the Mahoning Valley were snow-covered and slippery Tuesday, leading to a large number of fender-bender crashes, vehicles in ditches and many drivers slipping and sliding, trying to get up steeper hills.

In Austintown, Police Lt. Mark Skowron said several vehicles slid off roads, and traffic was slowed in areas of heavy going-home-from work traffic, such as that at Turner and Wilcox roads at Mahoning Avenue.

Overall, by 4:30 p.m., county and township road crews had roads in pretty good shape, Skowron said.

Boardman Police Department, which dispatches for the township and the OSHP, reported at least 30 crashes by 4:30 p.m., scattered around the township, but particularly on Southern Boulevard, I-680, Market Street and U.S. 224, none of which produced serious injuries,

The state patrol also reported numerous accidents and vehicles stuck on hills, such as on Calla Road by Lisbon Road.

Youngstown Police Department reported a number of minor crashes, but no weather-related vehicle crashes that caused life-threatening or fatalities as of 7 p.m.

In Trumbull County, roads were less treacherous, but still slick. Patrolman Benjamin Barnard of the Ohio State Highway Patrol Warren Post said there were several crashes throughout Trumbull County due to winter road conditions. Barnard said the OSHP troopers are preparing for the roads to get icy over the next few days as temperatures continue to drop.

In Girard, an accident near the I-80 eastbound construction zones resulted in a traffic backup on the highway for a short time. In Cortland and Lordstown, police reported a few vehicles sliding off the road and minor crashes.

Eric Wilhelm, chief meteorologist at WFMJ, said about one to three inches of snow fell across the Mahoning Valley Tuesday, attributing the snow’s accumulation to below-freezing temperatures.

Wednesday and Thursday will be colder, with highs of 23 degrees and 13 degrees, respectively. Windchill on Thursday will result in below-zero temperatures.

Wilhelm isn’t expecting snow tomorrow but says it will return Thursday.