People Rescued But Highways Still Closed

(CBS/AP)  The last of hundreds of motorists who had been stranded on Interstate 78 were finally sprung loose Friday morning but the highway remained shut down as crews struggled to clear ice and snow from the road surface.

"It took us a couple of days to get a lot of disabled vehicles, especially tractor-trailers, off the road so we could get back in and deal the 4- to 6-inch ice layer that has formed on many spots," DOT spokesman Rich Kirkpatrick said in a telephone interview.

State Transportation Secretary Allen D. Biehler said Friday that I-78, as well as large portions of I-81 and I-80, would remain closed so crews and salt trucks could attack the icy mixture that coated the pavement and became rock-hard as overnight temperatures plummeted.

"Interstate 81 is closed in both directions between the Fort Indiantown Gap area, just east of Harrisburg, and the Wilkes-Barre area," Kirkpatrick said. The closure of I-80 stretches from "roughly the Bloomsburg area in north-central Pennsylvania and U.S. 209 in the Pocono Mountains region."

Rest areas on open parts of Interstate 78 were "full to the rafters" with truckers who have nowhere to go, reports CBS radio station KYW-AM.

Sean Brown, a PennDOT spokesman, said Friday morning, "We have plow trucks out there, we have graders out there, we have loaders out there, just hammering away at it."

The work continued a day after National Guardsmen in Humvees ferried food, fuel and baby supplies to motorists who had been stranded on a 50-mile stretch of I-78 in eastern Pennsylvania for nearly 24 hours — the victims of a Valentine's Day storm that dumped snow, sleet and freezing rain on most of the state.

State officials, under mounting criticism, said they were unable to prevent the colossal jam. Several jackknifed tractor trailers stacked up traffic, and even after they were cleared, the big rigs behind them were unable to get any traction and got stuck themselves, state police said.

PennDOT estimated that at one point there were hundreds of tractor-trailers stuck. Some trucks were stranded by road conditions, while others ran out of fuel or their fuel froze.

But drivers were outraged, especially ones who had unwittingly blundered into the jam on Thursday.

State police did not close all the entrance ramps to I-78 until around 5 p.m. Thursday, more than 24 hours after cars and trucks started getting caught. Officials could not provide an explanation for why it took so long.

"Why would they have that exit open if they were just going to let us sit there?" said a crying Deborah Miller. Her 5-year-old son was trapped in the car with her, running a 103-degree fever from strep throat.

"How could you operate a state like this? It's totally disgusting," said Eugene Coleman, of Hartford, Conn., who was trapped for 20 hours with his girlfriend and pregnant daughter. "God forbid somebody gets really stuck on the highway and has a life-threatening emergency. That person would have died."

Gov. Ed Rendell declared a statewide disaster emergency, which authorizes state agencies to use all available resources and personnel and which waives some bidding and contract procedures. He also announced that tolls would be waived for 24 hours on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

[paramunch]

I hold the Pennsylvania Highway DOT responsible. There is no information posted on the Federal Highway or State Highway web pages about this road closure. I have also previously checked several independent travel advisory websites using the route from Mass to Hershey, PA. I was unable to find anyone reporting a disturbance on route 78 in PA. If PA DOT updated their site many of these and other travelers would have the information to make an informed decision. Especially my salesman who I advised incorrectly to take this route; after checking these web sites.

[bobmcl2006]

There were errors in both drivers and response. An emergency should have been declared much earlier. The Governor has admitted the State's failure. Hopefully, this has been a learning experience to all involved. Thanks to my fellow Pennsylvanians that took it upon themselves to help the stranded travelers.

[pagirl6]

p.s. - it doesn't say if the guy from CT is a truck driver...it reads as though he, his pregant wife, and their child were in a car.

[pagirl6]

it IS the individual driver's responsibility. it's not as though people were driving along on a warm sunny day and the as soon as they wen tup the ramp - poof - it became a hazardous ice storm. they had prior knowledge from being warmed a week in advance of the storm coming. NJ & OH had their own weather pattern, this section of PA had it's weather pattern....every area is different, so comparing states isn't a valid argument. As for the trucking companies - they had knowledge and should be investigated for endangering their drivers...they willingly & knowingly pushed their drivers to drive in hazardous conditions...if I were a driver, i rethink continuing employment with those companies.

[llory]

States in the west and midwest have dealt with this problem by having gates across the entrance ramps to major highways. These gates could then be closed at the discretion of the highway department if a road is determined to be unsafe for travel. Last summer while in Wyoming, we had to detour around a highway that was closed with a gate because of a nearby fire. Although in this case a gate might not have helped the people immediately behind the original accident, it would have kept I 78 from becoming a 50 mile parking lot. A lot of the problem could also have been eliminated by people just using their heads and checking road conditions before getting on the highway.

[trifidpa]

As a Trucker's wife and a Pennsylvania resident, this situation was bad. Talking to drivers all over in this storm, Pennsylvania has disgraced us in their handling of the storm. Ohio AND New Jersey did a decent job of having crews get started right away and try to stay on top on the storm. Of all the states hit with this, Pennsylvania is the one in the top spot about highways closed and accidents. If they know there is a hill on the highway that ALWAYS cause problems in bad weather, then they should have been working on it intensely to begin with, not wait for wrecks and close the highway.

Some have called the trucker driver from CT an idiot for driving in the storm ... then answer me where should he go? PA and the whole Northeast USA lack badly on truck stops and rest areas because everyone screams "Not in my backyard" when one is proposed. These same people will be mad when their store shelves go bare cause no one delivered the shipment!

Oh yea, if you don't want to blame PA ... why are all the major highways STILL closed today?

[mdc76082]

Responsibility begins with the individual. Any idiot that took to travelling during a storm like this one deserves to get stuck. And any idiot that endangers their family members by packing them in the car and driving through a storm like this is nothing short of a MORON! I liked the individual on the TV who b_itched about how it was everyone else's fault. All except her stupid, dumb_ass husbands fault for driving them out there in this weather. It doesn't matter where you are at...STAY PUT and DON'T VENTURE OUT! When people won't listen...People die and then it's everyone else's fault but their. STUPID PEOPLE DESERVE THE HARDSHIPS THEY CAUSE THEMSELVES. I just felt sorry for the kids for having to live with such stupid parents.

[mrassekh]

So, george2221, did you actually write Roger up?

[zibulki]

Stuck on planes, stuck in cars, maybe traveling isn't the greatest of ideas during an ice storm.

seems to me the big mistake was to close the highway, but not the entrance ramps.

and instead of letting the jammed up traffic through - they just kept it closed.

What a bunch of idiots! reminds me of the time there was a ten mile backup because the toll collectors called in sick so only one toll collector was open for the rush hour.

Typical government performance...