The morning commute started badly Tuesday as snow showers moved in off Lake Michigan.
I-196 along the Lakeshore in Allegan County saw the first problems. A vehicle rolled over around 6:30 a.m. on southbound I-196 south of Douglas near Exit 36. Shortly after, calls went out on a vehicle that had gone into the trees on northbound I-196 a mile south of Exit 42. That crash caused no injuries.
Around 20 minutes later, crashes began to occur on US-131 in Allegan County. One deputy driving in northern Allegan County reported he couldn’t see at times. The 131 mayhem began with a multiple vehicle crash south of Exit 68 on southbound US-131. A few minutes later, a crash was reported on northbound US-131 a mile north of the Wayland Exit 64.
Emergency personnel were then kept busy in Kent County as the snow bands swung north. A vehicle crashed on the ramp from northbound US-131 to eastbound M-6. That accident tied up traffic for some time, starting around 7:30 a.m. More crashes took place on northbound US-131 south of 54th Street and around 36th Street.
From 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., several slowdowns popped up just due to heavy traffic combined with the light coat of snow. I-96 was stop-and-go for a while eastbound from Plainfield Avenue to about Fulton Street. US-131 had several backups, most notably northbound at M-6 from the scene of a crash. Southbound US-131 was slow as usual from north of West River Drive to Ann Street, which, of course, affected the ramp from eastbound I-96 to southbound US-131.
The snow slowed traffic in Muskegon County, with speeds under 50 mph on I-96 and US-31.
