(CHICAGO) Slippery conditions on a snowy Sunday morning caused a 38-vehicle pileup on the Kennedy Expressway, sending 12 people to hospitals and shutting down traffic in the reversible lanes for more than seven hours.
The initial collision happened about 10:15 a.m. in the reversible inbound express lanes near Ohio Street, causing a chain-reaction crash that would end up involving 38 vehicles and snarling traffic all the way back to North Avenue, according to Illinois State Police and the Chicago Fire Department.
Eleven people hurt in the crash and a firefighter were taken to hospitals, all in good-to-fair condition with injuries that weren’t thought to be life-threatening, fire officials said. At least 59 other people declined medical treatment.
About an inch of snow that fell Sunday morning made the expressway “treacherous” and led to the major pileup in the express lanes, which have no shoulder, according to the National Weather Service and state police.
Local traffic began moving past the accident about 11 a.m. and all local lanes were opened by about 1 p.m., state police said. The reversible lanes were closed until 5:35 p.m., when they were reopened with traffic directed outbound.
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