Slippery roads lead to dozens of crashes in Lansing area; more snow likely
LANSING — Police on Tuesday responded to dozens of weather-related crashes, including one that closed part of Interstate 69 near Charlotte, after a shot of heavy snow made Lansing-area roads hazardous. Two semi trucks collided on southbound I-69, near Cochran Road, around 9:45 a.m. before another semi jacknifed just down the road, said Jerri Nesbitt, of the Eaton County Sheriff’s Office. Police closed the road until salt crews could treat the roadway, she said.
Other lane closures followed so tow truck operators could do their work. Additional snowfall of an inch (near I-96) to 2-5 inches (north of M-46) expected to fall tonight into tomorrow morning. There will be another round of snow Wednesday evening that could lead to another 1-3 inches of snow Be aware of travel conditions for this evening’s commute pic.twitter.com/KYUVRzSZJS[1]
— NWS Grand Rapids (@NWSGrandRapids) January 9, 2024[2] As of Tuesday afternoon, the sheriff’s department had responded to 13 crashes, Nesbitt said. No injuries were reported in any of the crashes, including the semi truck mishaps on I-69, she said.
In a Facebook posting, the Ingham County Sheriff’s Office reported seeing “a lot of slideoffs and accidents,” including one incident in which someone rear-ended a police cruiser, apparently at the scene of a previoius crash. There were no injuries, and a photo depicted a cruiser with minor damage. At least two crashes happened on U.S.
127 in the Mason area on Tuesday morning. No injuries resulted. Michigan State Police Lt.
Rene Gonzalez said troopers responded to a number of minor crashes, most of them slideoffs. No injuries were reported, he said. Lansing had gotten about an inch of snow through mid-afternoon Tuesday, said Joe Ceru, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids.
A woman uses an umbrella to stave off the elements, Tuesday, Jan.
9, 2024, while walking down South Washington Avenue in downtown Lansing, Up to another inch was possible through Wednesday morning in most of the region, with an additional inch or two expected north of Lansing, including northern Clinton County, the weather service said. Snow is possible every day this week, and forecasters were tracking a potential storm that could impact the region on Friday or Saturday, Ceru said.
“We’ve had a really mild winter, and people aren’t used to driving in the snow,” he said. “They should remember that slowing yourself down that extra 5 mph or so will give you the time to stop and prevent an accident. You should also allow extra time to get to your destination.” Contact Ken Palmer at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.[3]
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Slippery roads lead to dozens of crashes in Lansing area; more snow likely[4]
References
- ^ pic.twitter.com/KYUVRzSZJS (t.co)
- ^ January 9, 2024 (twitter.com)
- ^ [email protected] (www.yahoo.com)
- ^ Slippery roads lead to dozens of crashes in Lansing area; more snow likely (www.lansingstatejournal.com)