Blowing snow and poor visibility caused an eight-car pile-up on a Royalton road Monday afternoon. Sheriff Michael Filicetti described the accident, which occurred at 3:30 p.m. on the 3600 block of Hartland Road, as a head-on collision with additional cars colliding due to whiteouts. One driver was taken by ambulance for care of a minor injury.
Middleport Police Chief Roland Johnson described the crash location as ¾ of a mile south of Route 104, adjacent to open fields. State police and the Gasport Fire Company also responded to the scene.
“All eight had to be towed out. Three of the vehicles had snowmobile trailers. The tow truck guy was there for three hours.” None of the cars were driveable, with several impacted from more than one side in a chain reaction.
“Especially with the fresh snow, the field opens up and the wind just goes,” Johnson said of the crash location.
Johnson said another head-on collision occurred at Griswold Road and Mountain Road on Monday. “On the way there, I almost got in a head-on caused by the blowing snow. The plows are doing a great job but they can’t beat the wind.”
Filicetti said there had been an increased call volume to the county 911 center since the storm system arrived on Saturday. “We saw an increase in car accidents and vehicles off the road.” Orleans County issued a travel advisory due to lake effect snow, Fillicetti said.
“It’s been a typical old-fashioned winter,” said Keith Hurtgam, highway superintendent for nearby Hartland. “The last two nights we were constantly plowing. You just pray your equipment holds together and nobody gets run into in the whiteouts.”
Hurtgam said his five-person highway crew repeated their three-hour routes to keep up with the drifting. “You just keep going around.” Hartland was “getting by” with road salt, Hurtgam said as the area experiences shortages from major supplier American Rock Salt Company in Livingston County. “We aren’t salting like we normally do, and we’re more conservative with it.”
Highway superintendents across eastern Niagara County said north-south roads were their trouble spots due to winds.
Jon Miller, Newfane’s highway superintendent, said his eight-person crew worked 10-hour shifts plowing roads.
“It was just enough to keep them clear,” Miller said Newfane has enough salt for approximately five more rounds. A salt order placed on Jan. 22 with American Rock Salt has yet to be filled. “It’s kind of hard to put it down with the wind right now.”
Miller said plowing has created snow banks that are starting to act as wind buffers.
Middleport’s Village Coordinator Bryan Bobbitt asked that drivers be patient as towns and villages ration road salt. “We can’t just have the roads black all the time. Just give yourself enough time to get where you’re going.”