Snow slows traffic, public transportation in Cleveland area

Conditions on Northeast Ohio roads are deteriorating as snow continues to fall, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation. 

"As the day and the afternoon go on, we are seeing that more and more snow is falling all throughout Northeast Ohio," said Amanda McFarland, spokesperson for the Northeast Region at the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT).

"The roads are definitely getting worse, but we have 300 snow plows operating in Northeast Ohio," she said, "and they're working 12 hour shifts around the clock."

The roads in Cleveland are still passable for public transportation, which continues to run, said Floun'say Caver, of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA).

Two RTA buses were in accidents this morning, but that's not out of the ordinary, Caver said.

During the last big snowfall in mid-January, 13 buses were in accidents and 50 buses were stopped due to bad conditions on the road and trains began to slip on the rails, he said. Conditions were so bad that RTA temporarily suspended operations. Caver said he hasn't heard reports of trains slipping today. 

"We don't know that things won't change, but as of now, the system is robust and still able to move through the city and county," Caver said.

Cleveland roads are much more clear than they were on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, he said.

The view from a snow plow in Cleveland. Three ODOT snow plows were involved in accidents in the last 24 hours, McFarland said. No one was seriously injured. [ODOT Cleveland / Twitter]

McFarland, of ODOT, said conditions are not the same throughout all of Northeast Ohio. Farther away from the lake, counties were seeing rain and a wintery mix later in the day on Thursday. Snow was just beginning in some places. 

She recommends staying home if possible. 

"If you do have to go out for work or an appointment, I would definitely recommend adding extra travel time," McFarland said. 

She said many crashes in bad weather happen because people are driving too fast for the conditions. 

You can check for crashes and slowdowns in Northeast Ohio on ODOT's interactive map.