Clarksville weather: Over 50 wrecks from icy roads, 'We may be in for a long night'

Roads slick with ice and snow created dangerous driving across Montgomery County on Friday, with about 50 wrecks as of 5 p.m., a massive crash shutting down Interstate 24 just over the state line and the shutdown of Boot Hill.

"Boot Hill is impassible right now," said Clarksville Police spokesman Jim Knoll at about 5:15 p.m. The roadway, technically Providence Boulevard, aka U.S. Highway 41A, has a steep incline and vehicles often have trouble there when the roads are slick.

Knoll said it was a "parking lot" of trapped vehicles.

Boot Hill was back open by 6 p.m., but Knoll advised residents to stay off the roads.

More:  Several roads closed across Montgomery County

By 5 p.m., 30 to 40 weather-related wrecks had been reported in the city limits, Knoll said. Another 15 had been reported outside the city in Montgomery County. In all, about 125 people called 911 by 5 p.m. reporting wrecks and trapped vehicles.

"People are running off the road all over town," Clarksville Police Lt. Steve Warren said. "The common denominator is driving too fast for conditions."

Just before 4 p.m., both eastbound lanes of Interstate 24 were blocked at the 91 mile marker, just over the Kentucky state line, by a 10-vehicle wreck, according to Kentucky State Police. Eastbound traffic was being diverted to Exit 89.

There were also reports of heavy ice westbound between Exits 8 and 11.

Warren said only minor injuries had been reported in wrecks and there were "reports of cars sliding off the roadway." 

"It's simply not safe to drive the speed limit right now," Warren said, and unfortunately, many people are still trying to drive even faster.

But the slickness of the roads wasn't the only problem.

"You really can't see the street markings," he said, citing many wrecks in which people simply drove off the street.

Montgomery County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Sandra Brandon said the National Weather Service was calling for snow to be covered by another wave of ice later.

"We may be in for a long night," Warren said.

Heavy snow started falling across the county at about 2:30 p.m., covering about an eighth an inch of ice already sticking to sidewalks and driveways.

The National Weather Service predicted 2 to 3 inches of snow for Clarksville. In nearby Dover, 4 inches of snow was reported as of 4:20 p.m. Friday, according to NWS.

The Clarksville Street Department began salting city streets at about 5 a.m. Friday, as temperatures dropped amid rain and drizzle, said city spokesman Richard Stevens.

“We were making progress this morning against the ice, but the snow and colder temperatures set us back this afternoon,” Scott Bibb, operations manager at the Street Department, said at about 5 p.m. "Salt works best when it’s 23 degrees or warmer, but we’ve done some good.

“We’ll go as long tonight as possible, while it’s doing some good, probably until about 7 p.m. Then we’ll get back at it early Saturday morning,” he said.

The City Street Department has 30 trucks equipped with plows and salt boxes and about 10,000 tons of salt on hand to distribute on city streets as required.

At noon, Clarksville Transit System began running on a “snow routes” plan, whereby buses avoid hilly areas and stay on the main roads, Stevens said.

Reach Reporter Stephanie Ingersoll at singersoll@theleafchronicle.com and on Twitter @StephLeaf