Sprain reopens after spill, 5-hour closure
Drivers were stuck in traffic for hours after a truck spilled hydrochloric acid.
People are driving again on the Sprain Brook Parkway, hours after they passed the time with guitars and golf after a chemical spill brought the southbound side to a standstill.
Drivers found themselves in a traffic nightmare overnight when a multi-vehicle crash occurred south of the Ardsley Road overpass in Greenburgh, stranding people for hours.
The crash occurred around 9 p.m., when one of the vehicles spilled hydrochloric acid, said Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner. Two people were taken to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla with minor injuries unrelated to chemical exposure, he said.
Greenburgh police said all southbound lanes were shut down in that area while crews cleaned up the spill, and state police said this morning that the road was reopened by 1:30 a.m.
Reports streamed in overnight of motorists stuck on the parkway, some for more than three hours. Jason Evans, who was stuck a few hundred feet from the accident, said he hadn't turned his car on for more than two hours.
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"Nobody has been telling us anything ... I'm angry and resigned," he said.
The parkway was closed southbound around 9:15 p.m. at Dobbs Ferry Road, with traffic being diverted into Greenburgh while the clean up began.
Evans said he saw accident victims walking from the scene after an ambulance was unable to leave because cars were blocking the road and both shoulders. When asked how far the gridlock extended, he said he didn't know.
"There are no lights, everybody's car is off ... there's not exactly a bunch to do," he said.
Some drivers made the best of it. Motorists were reportedly strolling between cars playing guitar, with some even practicing their golf putts on the highway, Evans said.
The accident had turned the parkway into a parking lot.
George Figueirgdo, another stranded driver more than two miles away from Jackson Avenue, said had been stuck motionless for more than two hours.
"I literally cannot see an end to the cars and I can't see a single flashing light," he said.
Greenburgh police responded to help state police and hazmat personnel at the scene. Police said there were no threats to any residents.
Compounding the area's traffic chaos, a second car accident occurred on the northbound side of the Sprain Brook Parkway near Greenburgh around 11:15 p.m., state police said. That accident was minor.
