Icy conditions caused 26 vehicles to crash Monday on Naperville’s Diehl Road
Icy conditions caused 10 car crashes — involving 26 separate vehicles — along a one-mile stretch of road in Naperville Monday morning.
A citywide alert that went out about 8:15 a.m. Monday warned motorists to avoid Diehl Road between Washington Street and Freedom Drive, just off of Interstate 88, as ice was making for hazardous driving conditions.
Diehl Road reopened by 10 a.m. but not before 10 ice-related crashes impacted more than two dozen cars.
The first occurred at about 7:45 a.m., according to Naperville police spokeswoman Kelley Munch. The rest followed in the next 10 minutes or so thereafter, she said.
Two people went to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries as a result of the collisions. Other minor injuries were reported as well, Munch said.
About 10 police officers and 10 fire units responded to the string of incidents.
Temperatures dropped to the upper 20s in Naperville Monday morning, causing icing to occur, according to the National Weather Service.
As of 4 p.m. Monday, the situation was resolved and the roads clear of ice, Munch said.
City spokeswoman Linda LaCloche said the city monitors several different weather sources so the public works department can pre-treat roads with rock salt to keep them from freezing over.
A common and low-cost method for battling icy roadways, salt lowers the freezing temperature of water, preventing ice from forming.
LaCloche said the city was out salting roads early Monday but the series of crashes on Diehl Road “just kind of snuck up on everyone.”
“In my 10 years (with the city), I have not heard of this before, where there’s this many accidents,” she said. “You know, there (are) accidents all over the place, but anything of this size. This is my first time seeing something like this that’s weather-related.”
