Two Crashes Clog Vanadium Road

A pair of serious car accidents Saturday morning on Vanadium Road has one prominent emergency responder wondering if recent changes to the roadway fixed the problem.

Crews responded to a three-car crash near the railroad tunnel around 8:30 a.m. that caused some of the motorists to be hospitalized.

About an hour latter, a driver heading up Vanadium apparently lost control of his car when he hit the railroad tracks and crashed into a minivan going in the opposite direction. The driver of the car was taken to St. Clair Hospital.

The woman driving the van had to be cut out of the vehicle and was taken to a Pittsburgh area hospital, said. Her son in the van, who is disabled, was taken to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh.

Lewis said oil could be seen oozing out of the pavement after both of the crashes when heavy rain drenched the roadway.

“You could see the oil coming out of the road,” Lewis said. “It was slippery. That road is ridiculous. You could see the rainbow colored water coming out of the road.”

Lewis said he’s worried about the roadway and thinks speeding–not the road surface–is causing the problem. in an effort to prevent crashes.

But Lewis thinks that milling work is also causing problems because tires have less of the road surface to grip.

More information was not available on the earlier crash near the railroad tunnel.

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