Chicago Weather: Slick roads lead to crashes for morning commute; Airports getting back to normal
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Slick roads after Sunday's snowstorm have led to numerous problems on Chicago area expressways Monday morning.
An 11 car pileup crash led to a shutdown of westbound Ida B. Wells Drive at the Jane Byrne Interchange. By 8:25 a.m., the ramp was re-opened after IDOT crews re-salted the lanes.
Multiple crashes were reported in northwest Indiana, including a fatal crash in on eastbound I-90/94 just east of Cline Avenue. Indiana State Police said a Buick left the roadway and hit the sound barrier wall for about 100 yards before hitting the Burr Street exit sign and then hit a pole. Debris was thrown onto the roadway, and another vehicle struck the debris.
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The driver of the Buick was pronounced dead at the scene. He has been identified as 38-year-old Robert Horton III of Gary.
On the CTA, a car on the tracks led to the Blue Line being temporarily suspended between Harlem and O'Hare. Shuttle bus service was available and service has been restored. Police said a conductor was transported to Resurrection Hospital. The conductor's condition was not immediately known.
"The fire trucks pulled in, the car was right in front of us," remarked Reggie Mitchell, who was headed to work at O'Hare as the incident unfolded.
Mitchell added that he was supposed to be at work at 6 a.m.; he didn't walk into the airport until after 8 a.m.
"I hope I get the plane," said Kim Hemphill as she prepared to rush to her gate, adding, "I guess I should run."
A day after spring snowfall descended on the Chicago area Sunday, travelers were still dealing with the impact. A combined 200 flights were cancelled out of Chicago's two major airports before noon and there were multiple car crashes during the morning commute.
"In Chicago, I'm not a 100 percent surprised by it, i'm kind of used to it at this point," remarked Sean Mahon as he waited in line at O'Hare International Airport's Terminal 1 bag drop Monday morning.
The Lakeview resident was supposed to fly to San Diego Sunday morning; Mother Nature had other intentions.
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"I got here about 3 a.m, that flight got canceled. I got on another one at 10...and got cancelled," he said, adding "it's been tough, hopefully I can get out today."
As of 11:48 a.m. Monday, there were 201 flight cancellations at O'Hare and six at Midway.
The Chicago Department of Aviation told ABC 7 most of Monday's cancellations were proactive so that the airlines could get back to normal service.
More than eight inches of snow fell on parts of the Chicago area Sunday. Woodstock received 8.5 inches of snow and 5.4 inches of snow fell at O'Hare.
RELATED: Chicago Weather: Historic mid-April snow storm dumps up to 7 inches, cancels 1,000 flights
The sun will be shining on Monday, with highs in the 40s.
