Freezing drizzle made for slippery streets, especially in Grandville, Holland, and the West Side of Grand Rapids. Stretches of Chicago Drive and Rivertown Parkway in Grandville and Leonard Street near Remembrance Road were the scenes of numerous crashes that kept emergency crews busy.In Portage, Bradley Midgett, 22, of Kalamazoo, died when he lost control on slippery pavement shortly before 6 a.m. on Sprinkle Road south of Kilgore Road. His car slid into an oncoming pickup driven by Thomas Hope, 44, of Vicksburg. Investigators believe Midgett was travelling too fast for driving conditions. Both drivers were wearing seat belts and alcohol was not a factor.
In Grandville, the westbound lanes of Chicago Drive were blocked near 28th Street, but police managed to keep access available to eastbound and westbound traffic. Another crash on Ivanrest Avenue brought down a pole, further clogging morning traffic.
Accidents in on Rivertown Parkway occurred in such a short span of time that cars were sliding into already disabled vehicles between Ivanrest Avenue and Wilson Avenue.
As the morning commute ended, snow moved into the area, and the crashes continued, notably in the city of Grand Rapids and in the Ada area on M-21.
<a href="/news/traffic/">FOX 17 Traffic page</a>
<i>(MDOT Image: US-131 at Hall St, 11:30 a.m. 1/7/10)</i>)
Leave a comment