ASHTABULA COUNTY, Ohio — Editor's note: Video at the top of this story showcases team coverage of the wintry weather across Northeast Ohio.
A big traffic alert was issued earlier for drivers in Ashtabula County where all lanes of I-90 were closed in both directions due to a crash.
ODOT confirmed that at 2:12 p.m. I-90 West and I-90 East of Route 7 were open. The closure, which first began at around 9 a.m., stretched from State Route 11 to Route 7.
Jack Burke, a truck driver, spent four hours sitting on I-90 due to the closure and crash. He has been driving trucks for 40 years.
“This is not a time or a day to try to make up time to make time. It’ll come back to haunt you," he told 3News' Isabel Lawrence. "Eventually it’ll get you, so you just gotta slow down. A lot. And give yourself a lot more space to stop”
Burke had to detour through Conneaut in Ohio. “Coming through Conneaut, the ice was probably 3 inches thick. And it was like a washboard, driving over a washboard. It just beats you to death for miles. The average speed was 5, 5 miles an hour."
Initially, ODOT had only closed the westbound lanes, but the eastbound side was closed as well a short time later.
“Big traffic issues in extreme NE Ohio where lake effect snow squalls have dumped several inches of snow this morning,” the statewide ODOT account tweeted.
Although details of the crash have not been released, drivers needed to find a route earlier on Thursday.
All of Ashtabula County was under a level 3 snow emergency earlier Thursday morning, but the sheriff later modified the alert to only include areas north of I-90 – which means roadways within the impacted area are closed to non-emergency travel.
Ashtabula County has taken the brunt of the impact from this lake effect snow event while most other areas across Northeast Ohio aren't experiencing any snowfall.
MORE COVERAGE:
Here's an extended look at road conditions in Ashtabula County earlier Thursday morning: