Pennsylvania Turnpike Re-Opens After Massive Pileups With As Many As 100 Vehicles

After multiple pileups involving as many as 100 vehicles left 30 people injured on the Pennsylvania Turnpike Friday morning, the turnpike reopened to traffic around 4 p.m., CBS Philly reports. By 3:30 p.m., a stalled tractor-trailer blocking the eastbound lanes had been removed, allowing a backlog of traffic to clear, according to the T Pa. Turnpike Commission. Crews also removed parts of the concrete median to allow drivers to turn around and get off the turnpike.

Earlier in the day, helicopter photos showed cars and tractor trailers strewn all over the snowy road, and social media accounts shared photos of the pileups after they occurred Friday morning. MyFoxPhilly.com says at least four fire companies and ambulances were sent to the scene. The Turnpike closure stretches from Bensalem to Willow Grove, the report also said.

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The crashes were reported just after 8 a.m., about five hours after a storm that dropped a foot of snow in the area finally moved out. Speed restrictions enacted during the storm had been lifted at 6 a.m., but motorists said the roadway was very slick at the time of the crash.

Ambulances took 30 people from the scene, but none of the injuries are believed to be major, turnpike spokesman Bill Capone said. Abington Memorial Hospital and St. Mary Medical Center received many of the patients, but spokeswomen at the two facilities said none of the injuries was life-threatening.

“The word that we have is that we may have seen the most severely injured at this point in time, which we’re pleased to say did not include any life-threatening injuries that we are aware of,” Dr. John Kelly, chief of staff at Abington, told CBS Philly. 

Officials said it would take time to clear damaged vehicles, including tractor trailers, especially since some could not be driven away. About half of a 5-mile jam had been cleared as of early afternoon, Capone said.

The decision to lift the speed restrictions was based on road conditions at the time, he said.

"Based on reports from the road crews, the roads were such that we could restore it back to normal posted speeds," he said. "If somebody had said there was still a reason to keep it in place, we would've kept it in place."

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He said he was told the road had been treated but couldn't say when.

David Hill, 27, was about a mile back and had turned his car off to save gas. Given the nearest exit was about 2 1/2 miles away, he anticipated being there for hours.

"There's no possible way," he said. "I'm stuck."

Hill, who works for a wealth management company, said he wasn't surprised there was an accident.

"I got on the turnpike and it was nothing but ice," he said. "I was very surprised at the condition of it. Normally the turnpike is one of the first roads that's cleared, but today I was driving on solid ice."

Below are some images posted of the scene.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report