Rendell: Stranding Hundreds Of Motorists On Highways For 24 Hours Not Official Pennsylvania State Policy

Ed Rendell came out today and said that, despite the icy conditions, keeping people on stuck on Interstate 78 for up to 24 hours was not really all that, y’know, acceptable.

Here’s the backstory: On Valentine’s Day, around midday on Interstate 78, several tractor trailers jackknifed and stalled traffic. But officials (whoever they are) kept the road open despite icy conditions — a three-inch ice “crust” — and once the tractor trailer mess was cleaned up, the trucks behind them were stuck in the ice and couldn’t move. Officials didn’t close the road until 5 p.m. and didn’t notify Ed Rendell until 8 p.m. (What, was Eddie not watching the news? I knew before him!) The National Guard had to be called in to deliver food, fuel and baby supplies. The last of the stranded motorists weren’t freed until this morning.

The roads — I-78, I-80, I-81 — were then closed and workers sent to clear them fully. They’re still closed, though. And there was another accident when a truck driver was hit by falling ice from another truck hit his windshield and the truck, containing highly-flammable xylene, overturned.

So, basically, SEPTA is screwed unless it gets $100 million in state funding and the highways are screwed whenever it snows. Hooray for Pennsylvania!

Gov. calls state response to I-78 traffic fiasco unacceptable [AP/Philly.com]
Jan. 18, 2006: Apocalypse Philadelphia: The Xylene Spill
[Photo via Carnegie Mellon]