Slippery roads caused traffic messes and hazards across Butler County Wednesday morning.

Luckily, there were no serious wrecks.

“We've had a few crashes,” said state police Cpl. Greg Bogan, “but mostly minor ones.”

Still, the steady snow that fell between daybreak and about 11 a.m. was enough to make streets and highways slick, downright treacherous in spots.

Route 228 west from Middlesex to Cranberry townships was one of the most problematic roads for motorists, particularly big rigs, emergency crews said. It was also tough on police and plow drivers.

“It's really bad,” Middlesex Township Patrolman Bryan Costanzo said around 8:20 a.m. while working to bring order to the vehicular chaos at the busy intersection of Route 228 west and Route 8. “Everyone's stuck. They're everywhere.”

There were so many stalled vehicles at one point that he had to point at and count them one after the other.

“Right now, we have six, seven, eight, nine, 10 tractor-trailers stuck,” he said, “and six, seven, eight cars.”

At least twice during the morning, police shut down the intersection. Plows were called in to remove the accumulated snow and treat the road.

Traffic eventually was reopened to one lane in each direction shortly before 10 a.m. following the second shutdown.

The stretch of Route 228 near Route 8 known as “Balls Bend” in Middlesex was also a sore spot for motorists.

“There's a tractor-trailer sideways and cars all over the place,” said one caller to the Butler County Communications Center at 10:15 a.m.

North Main Street hill in Butler, known for causing many a white knuckle on drivers traveling up and down on snow and ice, became a kind of temporary bone yard for stranded vehicles around 9:30 a.m.

City police had to close the road that abuts the Butler Township line in both directions for about 30 minutes after 10 tractor-trailers got stuck.

PennDOT was contacted and crews came in with salt to treat the road. City road department workers provided additional help, laying down salt around the idled trucks.

Traffic eventually began to move, very slowly.

One official at the PennDOT maintenance office in Butler Township acknowledged the weather-related problems at mid-morning, but stressed that all plows were out trying to keep up with Mother Nature's mess.

“There are problems on most of our major arteries,” Jackson Township Police Chief Terry Seilhamer reported just after 10 a.m.

The hill on Route 528 southbound from Evans City toward Interstate 79 was a headache for motorists.

“There's been cars stuck there several times already,” Seilhamer said.

Upgrades and hills on snow-slickened Route 19 and Route 68 in the township also proved a losing battle for many semis.

“There are tractor-trailers traveling south on (Route 19) hung up at the hill,” Seilhamer said. “On (Route) 68, they're hung up on the hill by the old A.J. Myers bus garage.”

The Jackson Township road crew was out pretreating roads around 4 a.m. in anticipation of the weather, authorities said.

Butler Township-maintained roads apparently proved easier to navigate than others.

“We've had a few crashes, but nothing major,” said Butler Township Police Lt. Matthew Pearson.

Staff writer J.W. Johnson Jr. contributed to this report.