Northbound Drivers Faced Nightmarish Commute
BUTLER (KDKA) -- Drivers just trying to get home found it next to impossible with some roads shut down in Butler County.
"It's awful, completely awful," said Maggie Watson of Mars, who was stuck in stopped traffic on Route 8 South of Butler. "It's taken me from Target up in Butler two hours to get here."
Big rigs and cars that couldn't make it up a hill blocked all the traffic behind them for miles and miles.
"It's pretty horrible," said David Duncan of Butler. "I've been sitting here for about 45 minutes."
Same story on Interstate 79 northbound between Zelienople and Portersville, traffic was just stopped for miles and miles behind stuck vehicles.
PennDOT says the storm rolled in at the worst possible time – rush hour. "When traffic started to back up, our folks were struck in traffic. We're trying to move, we're trying to move and just not making headway," said Bob Skrak from PennDot in Butler County.
He hopes the snow stops by 6 a.m. Tuesday, so they have time to get ahead of it before the morning rush hour.
At least five-inches of snow had fallen by 11 p.m. Monday in Cranberry and PennDOT is asking anyone driving on the interstates in Butler, Beaver, Lawrence and Allegheny Counties to go no faster than 45mph.
On Route 910 in Marshall Township, Allegheny County, it was extremely slow going in first few hours of the storm, as cars got stuck and tractor trailer jackknifed closer to North Park.
"The roads are terrible," said Leslie Aber of Marshall. "Usually, we have 10-minute drive and it's taken us 45 minutes to get home!"
