SIDNEY — Icy road conditions and an empty trailer caused a semitrailer to jackknife Thursday evening and close down the southbound lanes of Interstate 75 for over two and hours, according to the Piqua Post of the Ohio Highway State Patrol (OSP).
Edd King, 57, of Nashville, Tennessee, was operating a semitrailer southbound on I-75 at mile marker 101, Thursday, Feb. 3, at 7:02 p.m. when the crash occurred. He was hauling an empty trailer, OSP Trooper Eric Devers said, which likely made it difficult to get much traction on the icy roadway. King lost control of the vehicle, causing it to go off the west side of the Interstate, down into the embankment and then hit the center median barrier. The median barrier prevented King’s truck from going over into the northbound lanes, Devers said, and instead bounced it back onto the southbound lanes of the roadway, blocking all lanes. Two other vehicles, an EMS utility truck and another semitrailer, were traveling southbound behind King, and in an effort to avoid hitting King’s trailer, went off the road to the right and into the ditch. Their vehicles were not damaged.
King was not operating recklessly, Devers said, but he was cited with failure to control.
The southbound lanes of I-75 reopened around 9:23 p.m. after Wreckers Towing and Mantor Towing worked together to remove King’s vehicle and trailer from the road.
No one was injured in the crash.
The inclement weather caused very little or no other major issues in Shelby County otherwise, aside from closures.
ODOT did a good job of clearing I-75, Devers said, and due to people staying off the roads he said they haven’t seen any other major issues in the area he covers.
Shelby County Sheriff Jim Frye, Sidney Police Chief Will Balling and Sidney Public Works Director Jon Crusey all confirmed it has been quiet and gone well as of early Friday afternoon.
“Other than a few vehicles in ditches, it has been very calm for us,” Frye said.
Crusey said, “We did not have any major issues overnight. Since the snow subsided last evening our crews are now beginning to clear residential streets while also having to maintain major roadways. I ask our residents to be patient, clearing residential roads is a slow process. Our crews are out 24 hours a day working to clear the snow.”
Along with school closures, the Sidney Municipal Court closed on Friday, Feb. 4, due to inclement winter weather conditions, as well as the Auglaize County Health Department. The health department asked for people to continue to monitor its social media and website www.auglaizehealth.org for any future updates.
In addition, the Sidney Daily News was unable to print and deliver newspapers on Friday due to the weather. The Sidney Daily News online paywall remains down. View the e-edition and other news at https://www.sidneydailynews.com/today.
As on Friday afternoon, according to the Sidney Wastewater Treatment Plant Lab Chemist Megan Watt, the city of Sidney received approximately 10-inches of snow, based upon the amount of water they have measured.
During Friday evening and into Saturday, the National Weather Service forecasted a chance of snow, mainly after 1 a.m. It will be mostly cloudy, with a low around 4 degrees, with a west wind of 3 to 5 mph. They predict the chance of precipitation is 40%. Possible new snow accumulation on Friday is predicted to be less than a half inch.
On Saturday, there is a slight chance of snow before 8 a.m. It will continue to be mostly cloudy, with a high near 18 degrees, with wind chill values as low as -6 degrees. A west wind is expected on Saturday to be around 6 mph, becoming light and variable, with a 20% chance of precipitation.
The National Weather Service recommends monitoring the latest forecasts and using caution when travelling on the roadways.
To get the latest detailed forecast, visit https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=40.2869&lon=-84.1542#.XEDpwdJKi00.
