3 crashes jam expressways
11/23/2002Three accidents yesterday on wet expressways in Sylvania Township significantly impaired motorists traveling through the area last night, authorities said.
About 4:10 p.m., a speeding semi lost control on the ramp from southbound U.S 23 to eastbound I-475, struck a guardrail, slid on the wet pavement, and flipped onto its side, spilling 20,000 pounds of loose cereal onto the roadway, the Ohio Highway Patrol said.
Cleanup efforts closed the ramp, which was still shut down at 11 last night.
Kevin Montford, 42, of Paris, Tenn., the semi driver, who was not hurt, was cited for failure to control the rig, troopers at the patrol's Toledo post said.
About 11/2 hours later, a five-car pileup on southbound I-475 near Central Avenue backed up traffic for several miles, but the expressway remained open. Nobody was hurt in that crash, troopers said.
About two hours after that, a car caught fire on southbound I-475 near the scene of the five-car pileup. Sylvania Township fire crews quickly extinguished the blaze. No one was hurt, township police said.