GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Bitter cold and high snow totals continue to snarl West Michigan Tuesday as crashes disrupt traffic and many school districts remain closed.
A more than 100-car pileupshut down US-196 between Hudsonville and Zeeland for nearly eight hours Monday, stranding drivers and landing nearly a dozen people in the hospital. While Tuesday hasn’t seen crashes involving the same degree of wreckage, dozens of crashes have been reported shutting down ramps, exits and stretches of freeway for minutes to hours at a time.
More snow headed to West Michigan Wednesday
The left lane of westbound I-94 near Hartford in Van Buren County was shut down temporarily due to a jack-knifed semi at mile marker 46, Michigan State Police reported around 11 a.m. Tuesday.
The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety issued a notice to drivers Tuesday evening warning that roads will be slippery and visibility is expected to be low Wednesday morning. They are encouraging drivers to use extreme caution if travel is necessary as roads are expected to be “extremely hazardous” even with road crews working through the night to clear and treat them.
ROAD CREWS DIG OUT
Low temperatures present unique challenges for road crews as salt becomes less effective during the extreme cold. Road crews began treating roads with a sand mixture on Monday as temperatures dropped and wind chills hit lows of -10 degrees in some areas.
“The sand becomes the primary part of that mixture. It’s almost all sand with some liquids to cut it in,” Steve Roon, maintenance director for the Kent County Road Commission, told News 8. “We may go upwards of 1,000 pounds of sand per centerline mile, so that we’re giving that traction across that driving surface where we can.”
The road commission says it will keep returning to state and county primary roads to make sure they’re passable. Crews have also been making passes on secondary roads…