“Over the river and through the wood,
To grandfather’s house we go;
The horse knows the way
To carry the sleigh
Through the white and drifted snow.”
— Lydia Marie Child
One would do well to keep Lydia Marie Child’s famous holiday poem in mind if Thanksgiving travels are taking you into northeastern Ohio and into Pennsylvania.
Then again, if the National Weather Service forecasters and the Ohio Turnpike Commission are correct, travel in that area may not be fit for man nor beast.
Heavy rain followed by several inches of lake-effect snow and high winds could make travel treacherous through the region.
In fact, the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission has issued a travel ban across the entire 241-mile toll road for all high-profile vehicles from Wednesday at 8 a.m. until Thanksgiving Day at midnight.
High-profile vehicles are defined as height exceeding 7 feet and 6 inches.
The following types of vehicles will be banned from traveling on the Ohio Turnpike until the travel restriction expires or is canceled:
- All high-profile tow-behind trailers, campers, boats, and enclosed trailers. (Fifth
wheel trailers are excluded.); - Commercial trucks towing an empty single 53-foot trailer;
- All mobile homes, office trailers and livestock trailers;
- All long combination vehicles (LCV) that include long double-trailer combinations
exceeding 90-feet in length. (Enclosed trailers only, including Conestoga type
trailers); and - All LCV triple-trailer combinations.
- 2-axle buses longer than 40 feet.
- Buses with 3 or more axles greater than 45 feet.
The following types of vehicles will be permitted to travel on the Ohio Turnpike during the time frame:
- Self-propelled motor homes;
- Low-profile trailers;
- Fold-down camper trailers;
- Pickup trucks with slide-on camper units;
- Vehicles towing fifth-wheel type trailers or any other type of trailers towed by
passenger vehicles or pickup trucks; - Commercial trucks towing single flatbed or box-type trailers;
- Commercial trucks towing a single 53-foot trailer with cargo/loaded;
- Commercial trucks towing a car hauler trailer;
- Commercial trucks towing flatbed double-trailer combinations more than 90 feet;
- Commercial trucks towing any double-trailer combinations less than 90 feet;
- Two-axle buses less than 40 feet; and
- Buses with three or more axles less than 45 feet.
The travel ban on the Ohio Turnpike will be continually evaluated throughout the
duration of the weather event, according to the commission.
According to the NWS office in Cleveland, northeast Ohio could see as much as eight inches of snow with winds gusting up to 45 miles per hour on Thursday.