Car rolls over, others in ditch on I-90
Published 5:04 pm Thursday, April 18, 2013
A state trooper slows to assist a motorist Monday on Interstate 90 between Albert Lea and Alden. — Tim Engstrom/Albert Lea Tribune
ALDEN — Motorists were finding themselves in ditches Thursday afternoon as roads conditions deteriorated into a sloppy mess, especially to the west of Albert Lea.
A state trooper is parked near where a motorist rolled in a red Ford Escape. An ambulance had left the scene seconds earlier. — Tim Engstrom/Albert Lea Tribune
The Tribune drove between Albert Lea and Alden and discovered what appeared to be a rolled Ford Escape on the north-side ditch of the westbound lanes, a Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office patrol car that slid into the north ditch of the westbound lanes, a white Lincoln Continental that had spun into the median near a turnaround and a silver Ford Taurus that had spun into the north ditch of the westbound lanes just after the twin bridges.
Calls for most of them began to reach dispatchers around 2 p.m.
A Freeborn County sheriff’s deputy waits in his patrol car after it slid into the ditch of Interstate 90 west of Albert Lea.
Despite 70 mph speed limits, motorists on the stretch were keeping their feet of the gas pedals, traveling about 30 to 40 mph.
The roadway was a mix of slush and ice. The 10 mph wind — with 20 mph gusts — would hit curves and make conditions worse.
The scanner traffic indicated many other spinouts and slides into ditches along area freeways.
The Alden police chief assists a motorist on I-90 Monday east of Alden. — Tim Engstrom/Albert Lea Tribune
Freeborn County was not in a winter weather advisory Friday. However, Faribault County to the west and Waseca and Dodge counties to the north were. Much of Minnesota from Worthington to Grand Marais was in a winter storm warning.
Freeborn County was in a hazardous weather outlook.
