Freezing roads lead to wrecks
Butler County commuters Thursday morning found roads not so friendly, thanks to rain and freezing temperatures.
Emergency crews described some roads as “sheets of ice” between 6 and 7:30 a.m. and at least a half dozen vehicle crashes resulted in injuries, most minor, authorities said.
Icy conditions got so bad in Butler not long after 7 a.m. that city police had to close the General Richard Butler Bridge.
Southbound traffic came to a standstill from Wayne Street to the light at Pittsburgh Road as some motorists were unable to gain traction on the slippery pavement, which created a logjam of cars and trucks.
Police said PennDOT was called to back up larger trucks in order for crews to treat the road with salt. The bridge in both directions reopened to traffic shortly after 8 a.m.
One person was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital with minor injuries following a rollover wreck about 6:40 a.m. on Route 422 near the Lyndora exit, Butler Township police said. Butler Ambulance Service took the unknown driver to Butler Memorial Hospital.
Less than 10 minutes later, a multivehicle crash on Route 68 in Forward Township closed a portion of the road, according to county emergency services officials. One person was taken to BMH with unknown injuries.
Ice-covered Route 8 on the McBride bridge in Penn Township was blamed for two separate accidents moments apart about 6:50 a.m. in the southbound lanes.
Penn Township police said Kelly Strenbari, 45, of Butler lost control of her minivan going down the hill and struck the guardrail just past the bridge abutment.
A trailing sport utility vehicle driven by Tyler Stone, 23, of Butler spun out and T-boned the van, said police Cpl. Jack Ripper. Strenbari was taken to BMH with minor injuries.
The second wreck happened seconds later, Ripper said, as two motorists tried to avoid Stone's disabled SUV in the slow lane.
A car driven by Allen Claypoole, 24, of Hilliards hit the SUV, police said, and then struck the back of an SUV traveling in front of it. Neither Claypoole nor the other driver, Michelle Nolan, 46, of Butler was injured.
The vehicles driven by Stone, Strenbari and Claypoole had to be towed.
Ripper said the accidents reduced traffic from four to two lanes until about 8 a.m.
At 7:27 a.m., another person was hurt in a one-vehicle crash on Route 38 in Center Township. The injured motorist was taken by ambulance to BMH.
Another multivehicle wreck was reported about 9:15 a.m. in Adams Township, authorities said, leaving one person with apparent minor injuries on Plains Church Road.
About 10:20 a.m., an older woman lost control of her car while traveling south on Route 308 between Holyoke and Mont roads in Center Township, which was coated by ice.
The car, which crossed over the northbound lane and ended up in a ditch, sustained heavy front-end damage.
Butler Ambulance Service medics tended to the woman and helped her out of the car. She was able to walk to an ambulance, which took her to BMH with apparent minor injuries,
State police investigated the crash but an accident report was not immediately available. The Unionville Volunteer Fire Department assisted.
A Center Township road department crew arrived about 30 minutes with a load of salt to treat the road. The woman's car had to be towed.
