The Snow Caused 35 Cars To Crash On The Kennedy Expressway Last Night

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Mar 14, 2017 2:20PM

Two separate car crashes on The Kennedy Expressway late Monday night, just as the region was hit by the heaviest snowfall we've seen all year, caused a total of 35 cars to crash, critically injuring one man and injuring at least six other people.

The crashes, which occurred near Division Street in West Town, according to the Tribune, happened around 10:15 p.m., and prompted officials to temporarily close express lanes for a few hours. The critically-injured man, 39, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

The crashes reportedly happened like a chain reaction, with the collision of two cars causing more cars to hit each other one after the other. They both took place within a mile of each other in the inbound express lanes, Illinois State Police told the Sun-Times. Authorities said the slick roads were being caused by the lake-effect snow hitting the area; Chicago is under a commute-snarling lake-effect snow advisory through Tuesday afternoon from the National Weather Service.