HARLINGEN — Many drivers found out the hard way what icy road conditions can mean.
In Harlingen alone, police responded to 22 car crashes from 6 p.m. Tuesday to 1 a.m. yesterday.
Multiple crashes also were reported in San Benito.
Police began blocking off all expressway entrances Tuesday night as temperatures dipped below freezing and the roadways began icing over. All cares were diverted onto the frontage roads.
San Benito Police Chief Michael Galvan said FM 732, south of San Benito, remained closed yesterday morning. He said Tuesday night’s freeze caused several multi-car accidents on that stretch of highway.
The northbound overpass on I-69 East at the Harlingen interchange was closed overnight with at least one 18-wheeler stalled on the highway.
“There were some cars that were stuck on the interchange,” Larry Moore, Harlingen police sergeant, said.
He said there were minor injuries reported from the flurry of car crashes.
The Texas Department of Transportation urged cities to close the expressways, but it was not an easy task because some areas of the expressways were already open in other cities.
The expressway was closed at the interchange of Harlingen and San Benito, all the way to Brownsville because of icy conditions.
TxDOT did apply deicing solution in hopes of reopening the highways as soon as possible.
The roads were open sometime after the lunch hour yesterday. The frontage roads were open in both directions.
The “flyover,” the interchanged near Valle Vista Mall and Bass Pro Shop, was open in both directions, from Harlingen to McAllen and Harlingen to Brownsville.
