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Bad Roads Good for Hotels

SUGARLOAF TOWNSHIP, Pa. — It was pretty smooth sailing on the roads in the Hazleton Friday, but Thursday night, cars were skidding, and it took a group ef...

SUGARLOAF TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- It was pretty smooth sailing on the roads in the Hazleton Friday, but Thursday night, cars were skidding, and it took a group effort just to get anywhere.

PennDOT officials say there were at least 16 crashes or disabled trucks nearby along Interstate 81, Interstate 80 and the Turnpike, causing drivers like Susan Janett to pull over and call it a night.

"It was awful. I was on the road, we were all going extremely slow. People were making their own lanes. I made a decision at 2, 3 o'clock yesterday that I was going to hunker down," Janett said.

She wasn't the only one. The Hampton Inn just off the West Hazleton exit on I-81 exit was booked solid by early Thursday night.

"I got just past Wilkes-Barre and it was terrible. It took about an hour to go two miles," said Ryan McQueeney of Baltimore, Maryland.

We talked to several hotels in the Hazleton area and they all said they were sold out by about 9 p.m. It was pretty busy at the Mount Laurel Motel, too.

"Because of snow and the road was not clear so it wasn't sold out but it was very busy," said motel owner Rakesh Patel.

After getting the snow off their cars, people were happy to finally be headed home.

"I've been gone all week so I'm excited to get back," McQueeney said.

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