BURLINGTON, Vt. -
Traffic slowed to a halt on I-89 northbound near Williston Thursday evening. Police blocked off one lane for nearly an hour to cleanup an accident involving a Benways cab driver. "As always winter driving changes very rapidly the road conditions change faster than we can stay on top of them so always drive with due diligence," Vermont State Police Trooper, Paul Ravelin said.
Traffic southbound was clogged up too but not because of police activity. Todd Townsend was one of many stuck in traffic on the interstate, "I was stopped for about ten minutes but it was just rubberneckers looking to see what was going on," he said. Townsend also said the road conditions were not out of the ordinary, it's just the time of year when drivers learn to readjust to winter conditions. "I see accidents like this every winter on 89 it gets bad around here in the winter time but it's mostly people not being careful," Townsend said.
Police say most accidents of this nature can be prevented by simply slowing down. "Speed is usually a factor in the crashes if we can slow down and give ourselves ample time to get where were going all through winter we can reduce some of our roadside crashes," Ravelin said.
VTrans sent out every single fleet north of Rutland Thursday night to help manage conditions, they're using a hybrid combination of salt and salt-brine to clear the roads.
