Winter weather snarls traffic in the Tri Cities Thursday morning

Winter weather snarled traffic with numerous accidents reported throughout the Tri Cities region Thursday morning. The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office said that mulitple crashes caused numerous delays on Interstate 81 Thursday morning. The Tennessee Department of Transportation initially shut down southbound lanes before reopening one lane. According to TDOT’s SmartWay Map, the crash was reported on I-81 south at Exit 63 just before 5 a.m. The Fall Branch Volunteer Fire Department confirmed its crews worked a separate crash Thursday morning on I-81. Other connecting routes showed congestion as traffic began to re-route to avoid the shut down, and numerous weather-related crashes and minor incidents were reported throughout the Tri Cities.