Feb 6, 2008 6:25 pm US/Central
Potholes And Slush Make For Dangerous Commute
Crews Working On Potholes Hampered By Bad Weather
HAMMOND, Ind. (CBS) ―
The snow is just one of the problems on the roads. Potholes are everywhere, and adding to the headache drivers are facing.
CBS 2 Northwest Indiana Bureau Chief Pamela Jones reports that snow can hide some serious dangers to drivers, including black ice and potholes.
Icy conditions, combined with speed and weight, caused a semi-truck to crash just off I-80/94 Wednesday morning.
"When the weather is bad you need to slow down, be a little more courteous of others," said Indiana State Trooper Greg Eckrich. "Speed kills during the weather."
He said the trailer of the crashed semi slipped, crashed into a road sign and slammed into part of a barrier. That ripped the trailer apart and tossed the recycled paper inside everywhere.
"The truck ended up rolling over," Eckrich said.
The crash closed the ramp for hours while crews cleaned up diesel fuel spilled during the accident.
As the storms pushed east of Michigan City, Ind., drivers battled low visibility and traffic hazards shut down portions of I-94 between Portage and Chesterton.
The Indiana Department of Transportation says potholes, created by extremely cold and then unseasonably warm temperatures, are the problem.
The agency says the weather is slowing crews working to patch up the holes. They're hoping for a break in the weather so they can get traffic rolling at normal speeds again.
The Indiana Department of Transportation says they will be cutting down traffic to one lane in each direction of I-94 for the 20-mile stretch between Portage and Chesterton, beginning Wednesday night and into Thursday morning, to give them time to assess the situation.
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