Slushy road conditions launch work week

Slushy roads created hazardous conditions for Spokane drivers to start the work week. A couple of single-vehicle collisions in west Spokane clogged traffic for a while. Other vehicles crashed into poles and fences as drivers lost control of their vehicles on the roadway. Spokane Police officer Teresa Fuller says the majority of emergency calls this morning are traffic-related. Police even had to respond to a disabled vehicle on Interstate 90 because Washington State Patrol was so busy, she said. The city saw a decent amount of snow accumulation overnight and through the morning commute with 2-3 inches in some areas. The snowfall is expected to slow down after 11 a.m. today as the region warms to above freezing in Spokane and Pullman. A National Weather Service winter weather advisory is due to expire around 4 p.m. Most of the city’s plowing efforts were on the upper South Hill and the north end of Spokane where snow was the heaviest. De-icing trucks were dispatched to work on intersections and hills with arterials, especially on the lower South Hill. The Veterans Day holiday kept many regular commuters off the roads. However, for people traveling the roads, authorities recommended maintaining a good following distance between cars and using caution on slippery roadways. “If it was a full-on work day, it would have been worse,” Fuller said.