Treacherous conditions contribute to flurry of accidents

Winter road conditions bedeviled drivers across the area Wednesday, causing multiple slide-offs in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene and a 60-car pileup near Snoqualmie Pass.

The snow fell on and off throughout the day but was particularly heavy in the pass, where several semitrucks jackknifed and crashed with vehicles in the westbound lanes of Interstate 90 just west of the summit, said State Patrol Trooper Jeff Merrill.

Traffic was stopped about 3:30 p.m., and westbound travel was diverted at the Cle Elum exit. The road reopened about 10 p.m. There were several injuries in the collision, four of which were serious, the state patrol reported. A procession of medic units threaded its way through the jumbled vehicles to the injured.

Accidents also closed the eastbound lanes for a few hours Wednesday evening because of more big-rig spinouts.

Snow in the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene areas also contributed to a slew of Wednesday morning crashes.

Highway 95 was the scene of so many crashes that the Idaho State Police temporarily asked drivers to stay off the roads.

Interstate 90 was plagued by wrecks, including a one-car crash near Sullivan, a crash on eastbound I-90 at Sprague involving a semitruck and a car, and a slide-off and rollover crash on I-90 west of Cheney.

“Going too fast for conditions has pretty much been the problem all day,” said Washington State Patrol Trooper Jeff Sevigney.

None of the dozens of crashes resulted in serious injuries.

City streets and county roads were also the scene of many crashes – Almost 85 crashes occurred on city streets and county roads, according to Spokane Police Officer Glenn Bartlett.

Idaho State Police responded to a head-on collision on northbound Highway 95, just north of Athol, in which one person had minor injuries. Another North Idaho crash at Highway 95 and Prairie Avenue created morning commute problems.

Snow is expected to continue into Friday.