Many NE highways including pikes dangerous, slow, a few closed in big wild snowstorm

The wild winter storm in the northeast US is causing major disruptions to highway travel including tollroads. Worst hit seem to Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York states but the storm seems to be dumping snow amid very high gusty winds all the way from Michigan in the west to Maine in the far northeast and down to West Virginia.

There are blizzard warnings in effect in large parts of many northeastern states. Snow in itself doesn't seem to be heavy enough to cause road closures but blizzard related accidents have. The Pennsylvania Turnpike has a bad accident at MP206 east of Blue Mountain which has completely blocked the road, both directions. Traffic is being put off at Breezewood MP161 to (I-70) at the west end and at Carlisle MP226 (I-81).

There has been another nasty crash due north of Philadelphia at MP316 in the westbound roadway. Traffic is getting by but there are major backups.

Tractor-trailers, box trucks and vehicles with trailers are banned from the Penn Pike's NE Extension I-476 because of high winds.

http://www.paturnpike.com/webmap/PTCIE.htm

New Jersey Turnpike had an early morning accident that turned over a tractor-trailer in the northbound roadways north of IC6, but that was cleared late in the morning.

Delaware Memorial Bridge and other facilities are signing lower than normal speed restrictions.

The Philadelphia area bridges have banned empty tractor trailers on the basis that they are in danger of being blown over.  

They have 60 pieces of snow equipment at the bridges and tunnels, including 28 trucks equipped with plows and spreaders at the 300k/day George Washington Bridge.

http://www.panynj.gov/press-room/snow-preparations.html

New York State Thruway has several sections closed due to weather related accidents, the most serious apparently being just off the mainline - a closure of I-84 MP34 to MP71.

http://www.nysthruway.gov/index.shtml

From where we write in Frederick Maryland about 20 miles (35km) just south of the the Pennsylvania border we're just out of the worst of the storm.

We've had no snow accumulations, just flurries of snow in the air. Our streets have trash strewn everywhere from the wild winds that picked up trash bags set out for the trash collectors last night.

ADDITION: The Penn Pike Exit 226 Carlisle to Exit 161 Breezewood reopened 3pm after a closure at 7:30am. There is a 45mph (72km/hr) speed limit in effect. The statewide ban on empty twin trailers is lifted as winds have subsided.

Carl DeFebo, spokesman says that around dawn blowing snow caused 'whiteout conditions' that contributed to accidents involving about 20 tractor trailers and two cars. Low travel speeds apparently limited injuries.

The first accident in the westbound roadway near MP206 involved 13 tractor trailers  and two cars. Two people were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Sometime later there was a multiple vehicle pileup in the easbound roadway at MP204 involving six tractor trailers. There were no injuries, just blockage of the road.

TOLLROADSnews 2010-02-26 17:00

TOLLROADSnews 2010-02-26