COVINGTON — The steep, winding section of Interstate 75 known as “the cut in the hill” was declared impassable by police at 6 p.m. Wednesday night.

        With the interstate ordered closed in both directions, thousands of Tristate commuters began the long journey home — for many, as long as four white-knuckled hours stuck in traffic.

WINTER DRIVING TIPS

• When driving on snow-covered or icy roadways, leave additional distance between your vehicle and the one in front, depending on the conditions and speed. Sudden application of brakes can send a vehicle into a slide or a spin.     • For vehicles with standard transmission, use a lower gear to slow down, applying brakes lightly. Anti-lock brakes will make this easier. For vehicles with automatic transmissions, use the low gear setting or shift into neutral before coming to a stop to keep wheels from pushing forward.     • Do not follow closely behind a vehicle going up a hill in icy or snowy conditions.     • When pulling away from a stop, apply light pressure to the gas pedal and gradually increase the pressure to pick up speed. If tires start to spin, take pressure off the gas pedal and then lightly reapply the pressure when the wheels have stopped spinning.     • Keep your gas tank full, and frequently check tire pressure. Overinflated tires will slip more easily on an icy surface. Check tires for worn tread.     • Have an emergency kit in the trunk, with a blanket, flares, a flashlight and a small shovel.

        One day after the surprise storm, Tristate officials admitted they were surprised by the snowy squall. Their surprise and the storm's timing meant a slow response to icy roads. The result: Gridlock along the 80 miles of I-75 from Crittenden, Ky. to Dayton, Ohio, until nearly midnight.

        “It (sneaked) up on us,” Warren County Engineer Neil Tunison said. “We really thought it would blow over. In one minute it went from blowing over, then sticking, to melting and icing up.”

        Covington police closed the interstate north and southbound from Fort Wright through Covington in the middle of rush hour. Their goal: Get the salt trucks in after a quick storm that kicked up about 4:15 p.m. and slicked roads with “black ice” — ice that looks like wet road.

        The timing could not have been worse because commuters were already on the road and many road crews had already punched out for the day.

        “This caught a lot of people by surprise — including us,” Covington Police Lt. Dan Miles said Thursday. “We had no control over the weather.”

        While the blowing snow provided little accumulation, its timing was terrible. Road workers normally end shifts around 3:30 p.m. and many were already home by the time roads got bad.

        They had to fight traffic, too, to get their salt trucks onto their routes.

        “Rush hours are always the worst time for snow and being able to treat the streets easily,” said Steve Mary, a maintenance engineer for the Hamilton County Engineer's Office.

        Linda Roll, a supervisor for the ARTIMIS traffic control center, said traffic was already backing up on I-75 on both sides of the Brent Spence Bridge when Covington closed the “cut in the hill.”

        “It continued to get worse from that point,” she said. “The interstate was closed for over an hour; and traffic was not moving for so long, when it opened the traffic just trickled through for a long time.”

        Ms. Roll said southbound I-75 traffic was backed up from 12th Street in Covington to the Norwood Lateral. Northbound traffic was stopped at the Kyles Lane exit and backed up to Crittenden.

Stranded travelers

        For some, the bad weather provided a surprise economic boost.

        “It looked like everybody got stuck on the hill,” said Dieter Kindermann, manager of the Holiday Inn in Fort Mitchell, near the southern end of the stretch of highway that was closed.

        Just a day after Christmas, Mr. Kindermann was inundated by travelers, many unwilling or unable to brave the roads.

        “We had a skeleton staff; and when it hit, it was completely unexpected. And none of the other staff could come in because of the traffic,” he said. “We had our challenges, especially in the restaurant.”

        Dana Dazier, who worked at the Florence Speedway gas station on Wednesday night, said she saw a steady parade of commuters-turned-customers.

        “We didn't get anybody who was mad,” she said. “They were worried if they were going to get where they wanted to go. We were stuck, too.”

        Dave Hensley, manager of the Fort Mitchell Sunoco, said Cincinnati's first taste of “white death” this winter left customers scrambling for the shelves.

        “We were very busy. The parking lot stayed full for, I'd say, three-and-a-half hours,” he said. “People were buying milk, bread, doughnuts, soft drinks and other essentials that they would have to have if they got stuck.”

        And plenty of people did just that — get stuck.

        In Crescent Springs, just south of the “cut in the hill,” city detectives were asked to suit up in uniform and help respond to dozens of traffic calls.

        “It got so bad that we weren't answering calls on the interstate unless they were life-threatening,” said Detective James Welsh.

        “A lot of people who were in the vehicles were elderly and just stuck. They were basically just stopping dead in the roadway.”

        Police faced the same problems as drivers.

        “Once you got out there, you couldn't get off. Once you committed an officer out there, you couldn't respond to other calls,” Detective Walsh said.

        The bad weather forced officers to be creative.

        Covington Police Lt. Dan Miles said around 7 p.m. Wednesday, a couple of Covington officers were struggling for ways to reach a woman reportedly in labor. She was inside a silver BMW in the center lane of closed southbound Interstate 75 near the Fifth Street exit.

        The solution: Officers reached her by going the wrong way on the interstate, but only after receiving help from truck drivers on CB radios who helped clear the lanes.

        The woman, Joanne Bargo, 22, of Covington, was taken to St. Elizabeth Medical Center North in Covington before being moved to St. Elizabeth South in Edgewood, where the hospital's maternity unit is located. She did not give birth and was released a little after 11 p.m. Wednesday.

        Desiree Kruetzkamp, 19, left work at the Speedway gas station on U.S. 42 near I-75 in Florence about 4 p.m., headed for her home in Ludlow. The drive that normally takes about 15-20 minutes lasted three hours.

        “It was pure ice. I was so glad to finally be home. I hugged my mom and waited for my husband to get home,” she said.

Problems in Ohio

        In Cincinnati, 165 accidents were reported between 4 p.m. and midnight Wednesday; 40 of those resulted in injuries, police records show.

        In suburban Hamilton County, an additional 138 accidents were reported; 20 involved injuries.

        In Crosby Township, a Middletown woman was killed Wednesday afternoon on Ohio 128, north of Willey Road, when the van she was riding in crossed left of center on the icy road and slammed into a utility pole.

        Warren County had its first truck on the road by 5:30 and eventually used its entire fleet of 16 trucks, Mr. Tunison said.

        Hamilton County used 58 salt trucks to cover county roads there, while Butler County used its entire fleet of 16, officials said.

        As the roads got worse during Wednesday's snowfall, business at some hotels and restaurants on Ohio 63 at Interstate 75 in Monroe got better.

        Restaurants were full as drivers pulled in to wait for improved road conditions. Many drivers surrendered to the snow and headed for hotels.

        “Our expected occupancy was low before the (snow and ice), but we ended up pretty nearly selling out,” said Mike Beal, general manager of Days Inn Monroe. “There was a line out the building. This lobby was full of people.”

        Down the street, the Perkins Restaurant also got a business boost during the storm.

        “Our sales were up big time last night,” restaurant manager Sandy Walker said. “We were probably up about 6 percent, 7 percent. We came out ahead.”

        Business was brisk at the Stony Ridge/Red Carpet Inn Travel Center. The restaurant was full and the truck stop rented 32 rooms Wednesday, about double the number it would normally do on a typical weekday between the holidays, general manager Kathy Elkins said.

        About a half-inch of dusting snow is expected today, with a high of 33. Later in the day and at night, the forecast calls for more snow showers. The high will be 32 degrees, the low in the upper teens.

        “We had a lot of people pulling off into the gas station stating that they had been in traffic for four hours, four-and-a-half hours.”

        On Saturday, there's another chance of snow showers, with the high in the low 20s. Snow showers could continue Saturday night, when the temperature will drop to the mid-teens.

        “There's going to be several snow bands moving out of the Great Lakes region over the next several days,” Mr. McNeil said. “With that, some areas will pick up similarities with what we had on Wednesday.”

        David Eck, Stacie Miehaus and Ray Schaefer contributed to this story.

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