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Morning snow caused 'bumper car show' on local roads

State Police say at least three of the nine reported accidents involved more than eight cars while the other crashes involved three to four vehicles.

Pedestrians cross North 41st Street as snow falls in West Philadelphia on Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017.
Pedestrians cross North 41st Street as snow falls in West Philadelphia on Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017.Read moreTIM TAI / Staff Photographer

A dusting of snow in the Philadelphia region caused chaos on local roads Saturday morning, with the Schuylkill Expressway among the hardest hit.

All lanes on I-76 westbound were reopened shortly after noon following numerous accidents in the morning that forced the major artery to be shut down in spots. A PennDOT spokesman said residual delays could remain between the City Avenue and Gladwyne exits.

Further west, the Blue Route had problems, too. There an overturned tractor-trailer closed all but two lanes on 476 northbound.

Early Saturday morning, a dispatcher with the Pennsylvania State Police in Philadelphia described westbound I-76 as a "bumper car show," with multiple accidents and multiple EMS vehicles on the scene from the Belmont to Gulph Mills exits.

A Montgomery County dispatcher and the Pennsylvania State Police told NBC10 that units responded to at least 15 accidents in the region.

One of the accidents on the Schuylkill involved multiple vehicles that were westbound in Gulph Mills between Exit 331A (for southbound 476) and Exit 330 (for PA 320). The crash reduced traffic to one lane there.

Nearby, another multi-vehicle crash on I-76 westbound in Conshohocken closed all lanes between Exit 332 for PA 23 and Exit 337 for Gladwyne.

State Police said at least three of the nine reported accidents involved more than eight cars, with the other crashes involving three to four vehicles.

There were no reports of serious injuries.

Speed restrictions are in place on both bridges leading to and from the city, along with the Commodore Barry Bridge. Speed restrictions are also in effect on the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway.