Tinley Closes I-80 Ramp; 5-Car Pileup Near Oak Forest

Freezing rain has caused Tinley Park police to close the southbound ramp leading to westbound Interstate 80 at Harlem Avenue after a car slid off the ramp and crashed into a light pole just west of the ramp about 8:15 this evening.

The driver of the car was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital. His condition was not known.

Police radio calls also said there was a five-car pileup about the same time on southbound Interstate 57 just south of 167th Street near Oak Forest. A police radio call said there was debris all over the highway.

An Oak Forest squad was en route after stopping to check on a car that slid off the interstate a few blocks south of the pileup. Ambulances were being called.

Both Tinley and Oak Forest emergency crews were calling for state trucks to salt the highways. One radio call said the ramp would be closed for about an hour.

Police were reporting icy conditions on most roadways.

Other accidents blamed on icy roads were reported at 187th Street and Wolf Road in Mokena, at U.S. 30 near I-57 in Matteson and at I-80 and Ridgeland.

A police dispatcher for Tinley Park said Illinois State Police were assisting several cars that had slid off highways in the south suburbs.

In Orland Park, an ambulance was called for a woman who slipped on an icy sidewalk after leaving a restaurant in the 14400 block of LaGrange Road.