Posted on 02/17/2007 7:43:22 AM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist
(AP) PHILADELPHIA -- Gov. Ed Rendell on Friday apologized for the state's lackluster response to a massive traffic backup on Interstate 78, saying that hundreds of motorists became stranded Wednesday and Thursday because of an "almost total breakdown in communication" among state agencies.
Calling the situation "totally unacceptable," Rendell announced an investigation into what went wrong, including why it took until 6 p.m. Thursday to close all ramps onto I-78 in eastern Pennsylvania. That was more than 24 hours after the worst of the Valentine's Day storm had passed, leaving 50 miles of jammed traffic in its wake.
"Everyone involved in the state response was a state employee and therefore I am to blame," Rendell told a news conference in Philadelphia. He tapped James Lee Witt, the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to help lead the review.
The mea culpa was an abrupt reversal for Rendell, who had insisted on Thursday that state government responded properly to the storm and that "Mother Nature is the only one to blame," as spokeswoman Kate Philips put it.
The interstate was finally clear of trucks and cars Friday but the highway remained shut down indefinitely as crews struggled to remove ice and snow from the road surface.
State Transportation Secretary Allen D. Biehler said I-78, as well as large portions of I-81 and I-80, would remain closed so crews and salt trucks could attack the icy mixture that coated the pavement and hardened as overnight temperatures plummeted. He could not say when the highways would reopen.
"The challenge now has been dealing with a number of iced-over areas. It's really a struggle to break those up," PennDOT spokesman Rich Kirkpatrick said Friday afternoon.
State officials have said they could not have prevented the colossal jam that stranded motorists for up to 24 hours, a potentially deadly situation made worse by frigid temperatures and fierce winds.
Several jackknifed tractor-trailers stacked up traffic, and even after they were cleared, the big rigs behind them were unable to get any traction and got stuck themselves, state police said.
PennDOT estimated that at one point there were hundreds of stuck tractor-trailers. Some trucks were stranded by road conditions, while others ran out of fuel or their fuel froze.
And, as the backlog lengthened, plows were unable to get through.
"PennDOT was overwhelmed by conditions," Catherine Rossi, a spokeswoman for AAA Mid-Atlantic, said Friday. "No one seemed to recognize the magnitude or take charge."
Her comments were echoed by state lawmakers from both parties. House Republican Leader Sam Smith called the state's response "deplorable" and announced hearings. The Senate also planned hearings and created an e-mail address, stormresponse@pasen.gov , for motorists who were stuck on I-78 to send their comments.
State Sen. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh, said PennDOT officials should be quicker to shut down interstates when the weather dictates. He called for a statewide communications system to alert commercial truckers when such a decision is made, coupled with fines or other sanctions for truckers who ignore warnings to stay off.
State Rep. Jennifer Mann, who was stuck on I-78 for more than five hours Wednesday, ticked off a list of complaints: The road surface was not plowed, it took hours for the state to respond to the backlog, and even when help arrived, passenger cars were not diverted off the highway as quickly as they might have been.
"I'm not a traffic engineer," said Mann, D-Lehigh. "My job is to hold these folks accountable and force an evaluation here, not for the purpose of placing blame but for the purpose of understanding what went wrong so something like this never happens again."
Motorists who unwittingly blundered into the jam said they didn't have any warning of the backup ahead of them. New Jersey's transportation department, on the other hand, had electronic message signs advising drivers to avoid Interstate 78 when they crossed into Pennsylvania.
The communications breakdown extended all the way to the governor's office. Rendell said he didn't learn of the situation until 8 p.m. Wednesday, about seven hours after traffic began stacking up.
"I haven't gotten an acceptable answer and that ticks the heck out of me," Rendell said.
Not everyone found fault with PennDOT.
"There was such a high volume of traffic, and between the snow and the ice, I'm not sure anybody could have done anything better," said James Runk, president and chief executive of the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association.
Another weather-related accident closed both directions of the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Lancaster for several hours Friday. Ice from a westbound tractor-trailer apparently flew into the windshield of an eastbound tanker truck, which overturned, injuring the driver, said turnpike spokesman Carl DeFebo.
The tanker was carrying 1,800 gallons of xylene, a highly flammable chemical that is used in the manufacturing of paints, rubber, adhesives and plastics, DeFebo said.
See there. The DOT is underfunded and understaffed.
We had to go to the bathroom in a plastic bin and dump it out the door. Had to take the dog into the drifts.
Finally after 7 hours, they let us move, but by that time the snow was so deep, there was only one path two follow, I only had a lowly Sable wagon (now I'm a rich Republican with an evil SUV that'll go through any snowstorm easily) and it was getting close to dark. So, I went up the entrance ramp to get to some shelter and the PA Trooper told me to go back down. I tried to explain I had little kids and had to find a place for the night, but he made me turn around, even in my duress (oh well). We ended up going one exit, but that ended up being the army depot and I could not find anywhere to stay and almost went off the country road.
So we doubled back to Mt Pocono, looked quite a while for a place to stay and could not find any motels. Was about to park and spend the blizzard night in between some trucks at a KMart but figured to give one more try. The kids and the wife were crying.
Just before dark I turned off the main drag and low and behold we saw a light and followed it. It ended up being the Mt Pocono Inn and they were our saviors.
The road remained closed until the following afternoon. And I never got an apology from the PA Governor!
It used to be the case that the first responders on the scene would assess the situation, the highest ranking responder on the scene would issue orders, and stuff would happen
Now they have to wait for the guy from PEMA (the PA version of FEMA) to arrive with his binders full of forms and procedures, and get approvals and coordination from all sorts of bureaucrats.
The problem is NOT, as Rendell asserts, that there was a "breakdown in communications among state agencies". The problem was that the Rendell Administration REQUIRED so much communication among state agencies in order for any action to be taken.
The way things should have worked (and they way things used to work) would have been:
First trooper on scene to dispatcher: "I-78 is blocked by tractor trailer. Road conditions are becoming impassible. I recommend closing the road"Dispatcher: "All units - start closing on-ramps to I-78 between XXX and YYY"
Those that depend on Penn DOT, for the most part, are taxpayers. Screw them!! Gotta take care of the parasite class first. Votes, ya know?
Not only I 78 but I 80 and I 81 are still closed.
Obviously God wants PA to be a chocolate state.
It's a quagmire! I heard that Murtha's demanding that the National Guard be redeployed to Okinawa!
Mark
Didn't bother me too much.I live up in the woods,got a shotgun,rifle and a four wheel drive.
Philly and harrisburg are already.
Post #5 well said, totally nailed it.
It wasn't a little ice and snow. It was 4-6 inches of sleet - which has the water equivalent of 2-3 feet of snow. And that sleet is like driving on millions of tiny ball bearings - and then it froze solid overnight Wednesday. So there is good reason why people had trouble navigating those conditions. The real problem is that the storm was long gone (it was over about 11 AM Wednesday), so people probably thought it was OK to get out - but authorities did nothing to broadcast to the public to stay off those roads, nor did they close the on-ramps.
No image, but:
"Interstate 78, which runs east and west, is closed in both directions between Exit 8 (for Route 22 to Fredericksburg) and Exit 49 (for Route 100 to Fogelsville, just west of Allentown). Interstate 81, which runs roughly north and south, is closed in both directions between Exit 85 (Route 943, Fort Indiantown Gap, near where it meets Interstate 78) and Exit 165 (Rt. 309 to Wilkes-Barre.)
Interstate 80, one of the two expressways that cross the state east to west, is closed eastbound between Exit 241 (Route 11, Lime Ridge) and its junction with Interstate 81 near Hazleton. The road is closed westbound between Exit 304 (Route 209 to Snydersville, just west of Stroudsburg) and the intersection with Interstate 81."
Except that it doesn't. See my post #31. I live just to the east of the area that got the worst of the sleet storm - it extends from Reading up into the Poconos.
I used to live right off of I-78, and there have been MUCH worse storms in the past without a problem. This is a total disgrace and all involved should be ashamed. Especially that POS governor. But the sheeple will still vote for him, at least the city folk will, since they are the beneficiaries of all the Taxes.
Fast Eddie Rendell will boost the sales tax from 6% to 7%. He intends to bump the tobacco tax up. The gas tax is already higher than Maryland and NJ. He now has the Democrat legislature to raise taxes on whatever he wants.
Pennsylvania is falling apart under DemocRAT rule. Hopefully, voters in PA will learn the lesson.
You mean the rats blew it BIG TIME in their response to a weather-related natural disaster?
I hope the Republicans drag Rendell and the rats through the mud for the next two years.
Welcome to the new Democrat majority.
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