KYW Newsradio Team Coverage
by KYW's Ed Benkin, Al Novack, and Paul Kurtz
There were three major traffic incidents causing serious traffic problems for the Tuesday morning rush hour.
A serious accident on the northbound side of I-95 (above) approaching Philadelphia International Airport in Tinicum Township (Delaware County) left three dead. An overturned tractor trailer north of Route 420 shut down the northbound lanes near the accident scene. Traffic was slow northbound all the way from the Delaware state line to Route 420 for most of the day.
The truck was traveling in the southbound lane when it crashed through a medial barrier about 7am, crossed over into the northbound lanes, and careened over four other vehicles before crashing into a sound suppression wall (right). The driver of the truck was trapped in the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. A mother and a small child in one of the cars hit by the truck were also killed.
The truck spilled trash onto the roadway when it overturned. The southbound lanes were getting by intermittently, but there was trash on the southbound side due to the accident. Police, rescue teams, and firefighters remained on the scene for hours. The northbound lanes were reopened about 3pm.
Meanwhile, a truck fire slowed the eastbound lanes of the Pennsylvania Turnpike near the Valley Forge interchange during the morning rush hour period. The left lane reopened just before 7am after both lanes were shut down for over an hour, but the right lane remained closed until after 9:30am. The truck was stopped in between the Downingtown and Valley Forge exits.
There was a five-mile backup with vehicles that went past the Downingtown exit before the fire shut down the lanes. Firefighters remained on the scene for hours.
The westbound lanes were not shut down, but traffic westbound continued to be slow. Motorists were being detoured to the Downingtown exit for a time.
There was also trouble along
Kelly Drive. A portion of Kelly Drive was shut down due to flooding from the Schuylkill River.
Just a small portion of Kelly Drive was under water, but it was enough to cause major traffic problems Tuesday morning.
Kelly Drive was closed between North Ferry and Midvale Avenues, at the base of the Twin Bridges. There was a one-block detour, but police were letting northbound and eastbound motorists use a side street which runs parallel to the flooding.
The water had been rising throughout the morning and was close to reaching street level by late morning. There was little that could be done to alleviate the flooding because the river was simply too high. The flood water won't recede until the river level goes down.
Stay tuned to KYW Newsradio 1060 for "Traffic and Transit on the Twos."
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