Iowa DOT, state patrol urge motorists to stay off I-80, highways as snow continues to fall

Officials are asking motorists to stay home as Johnson County and much of eastern Iowa are blanketed in the year's first snowstorm.

A slew of accidents and white-out conditions have slowed Interstate 80 travel through much of the area, as many cities have reported at least 8 inches of snow since late Monday night, with some tallying nearly a foot of snow.

Interstate travel is not advised Tuesday evening

The Iowa DOT and Iowa State Patrol pleaded for residents around 4 p.m. Tuesday to avoid travel on I-80 between Des Moines and Davenport as snowfall and strong gusts have greatly limited visibility.

U.S. 218 was completely covered by snow at 4 p.m., as was I-80 to the Illinois border, according to the Iowa 511 website, a resource for travel information. The 511 website also provides camera feeds of stretches of road across Iowa, allowing residents who must travel to scout out road conditions in a particular area.

The Iowa State Patrol has covered 171 crashes and assisted almost 500 motorists since Monday morning, according to its 4 p.m. report. Zero of those crashes have resulted in any fatalities.

More: Johnson County schools announce more cancellations as winter storm drops nearly a foot of snow

A crash in the westbound lane of I-80 eight miles west of Tiffin slowed traffic shortly before 5 p.m. while another significant accident near Williamsburg temporarily closed the westbound lane. An accident just east of the I-80 Walcott exit blocked the left westbound lane shortly after 5 p.m.

Blizzard-like conditions halt Iowa City Transit

Iowa City Transit announced suspended services "until conditions improve," the city told residents through a text message at 1:45 p.m. Travel on the free transit lines will not resume on Tuesday as conditions remained poor, the city said in a text.

Coralville transit will end service early, with the final bus leaving the downtown interchange at 9:10 p.m.

Regular routes and service are expected to resume on Wednesday morning.

More: Snow will continue to fall throughout Tuesday, impacting travel in Johnson County

The National Weather Service is continues to plead with residents to use caution as the storm system rolls into the evening. The system will be punctuated by strong gusts of winds as well as significant snowfall of up to six more inches.

Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at rhansen@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Heavy snowfall hinders interstate travel in eastern Iowa