SOMERSET – Winter weather affected many people who were using the Pennsylvania Turnpike on Monday. Those traveling on the turnpike likely ran into extensive delays and road closures.
The eastbound and westbound lanes were both closed Monday -- at different times -- for short periods due to tractor trailers jackknifing.
It was a busy day for first responders and road crews, as many drivers were not expecting snow after the warm weekend weather.
Many had to consider alternate travel plans because of severe delays.
The roads were coated with snow and slush, forcing drivers to slow down significantly.
Dispatchers at the Somerset County 911 center said they had more calls to handle in six hours than they normally get in a 12-hour shift.
"We actually called two other people in this afternoon to help us,” said Kristin Grasser, 911 supervisor. “There's normally only three of us here and we had five, and we were still busy."
Grasser said there were several accidents throughout the county. The most major one was on the turnpike, coming out of the Allegheny Mountain Tunnel. A tractor-trailer jackknifed, sending cars that it was carrying onto the roadway and shutting down eastbound lanes at about 2:30 p.m.
"Coming from Pittsburgh, it was snowing really bad the whole way,” driver Dina LeRose said. “The visibility was really difficult. It was getting really foggy coming up toward the mountain, coming toward Somerset."
LeRose is traveling from Pittsburgh to Virginia with three small children.
"We have a very important appointment tomorrow morning in Virginia, and we have to be there at 10 o'clock,” LeRose said. “So we're kind of debating if we should stay here tonight or if we should continue on."
Officials with the turnpike said they're handling the accidents and backups just fine.
Willie Anderson Jr. is from Georgia and isn't used to this weather.
"I'm driving. I'm sliding,” he said. “And I'm just holding two hands on the wheel, and got my emergency brakes on, and people are blowing behind me, and I said, 'Wait a minute. I'm not used to this stuff.'"
And just like many others, he had to change his plans because of the backups.
"I needed to have been in Philly this evening, and because of the accident coming down, and because of the traffic being slow, so I had to push everything back to tomorrow," Anderson said.
The two jackknifing accidents have been cleared in both directions.
But until conditions become safer, the speed limit on the turnpike has been reduced to 45 mph between Somerset and Bedford counties.
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