A 48-year-old New Jersey man died Friday morning when his tractor-trailer crashed on an ice-slicked Interstate 476.
Lackawanna County Coroner Tim Rowland said the Elizabeth, N.J., man - who was not named pending notification of his family - was ejected from his rig and suffered fatal injuries in the crash this morning.
The crash happened on the northbound side of the expressway, not far from the Freedom Bridge in South Abington Twp.
State police have not released details of the fatal crash.
After about two to three hours of non-stop responses to motor vehicle crashes, local emergency responders' workload seemed to lighten by about 10 a.m.
The Lackawanna County Communications Center said that all of the roads it knew to be closed were reopened by about 10:30 a.m., including the outbound side of the North Scranton Expressway.
The expressway's outbound lanes closed this morning after two separate one-vehicle crashes occurred at the Main Avenue overpass, acting Scranton police Capt. Glen Thomas said.
In both crashes, the vehicles hit the overpass - which was covered in ice - and the drivers lost control of their vehicles.
In the first crash, Michael Bertha, 45, of Scranton, lost control of his Ford SUV when it hit the icy overpass at about 7:15 a.m. The vehicle then collided with the guard rail and flipped over it, Capt. Thomas said.
Mr. Bertha, who wore a seatbelt, remained inside the vehicle during the crash and was later transported to Geisinger Community Medical Center for moderate, non-life-threatening injuries.
About 25 minutes later, Mary Pellegrini, 64, of Scranton, drove her Jeep SUV over the same ice patch and also lost control of her vehicle and crashed into the guard rail, Capt. Thomas said.
The force of the crash ejected Ms. Pellegrini through the passenger side window of her vehicle.
She was also transported to GCMC for non-life-threatening injuries.
The crashes left the outbound side of the expressway closed for over an hour this morning and PennDOT crews responded to spread salt on the area.
But by about 10 a.m., as temperatures rose in the area, Capt. Thomas said the ice had melted.
"Once that initial bunch of accidents got over with, it warmed up and things got back to normal," he said.
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