Wrong-way crash on Route 22 in Salem seriously injures 1 person, dispatchers say
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At least one person was seriously injured Monday in a wrong-way crash that closed the westbound lanes of Route 22 at the intersection with Route 819 in Salem for two hours, according to a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher.
Multiple fire departments and state troopers were called to the scene near Murray Electric Co. in the 7200 block of Route 22.
A vehicle collided head-on with a tractor-trailer, the dispatcher reported, adding that first responders reported one of the vehicles was headed in the wrong direction when the collision occurred just after 9 a.m. The highway reopened to traffic just after 11 a.m., a dispatcher said.
The driver had to be freed by first responders and was going to be airlifted to an area hospital, the dispatcher reported.
Authorities also cleaned a fuel spill on the highway as a result of the crash.
The section of Route 22 is a main east-west thoroughfare through Westmoreland County and among the busiest highways in the county with a daily traffic count of 22,000 vehicles, according to PennDOT figures.
The highway intersection has also been the site of numerous serious accidents over the years.
On Sept. 27, 2020, a 71-year-old Plum man, John Meyer, was killed when the SUV he was riding in was struck by an eastbound vehicle while stopped at the traffic signal at Route 819, according to state police.
On June 17, 2019, an Export man was seriously injured in a wrong-way crash near the same intersection, according to state troopers. The man, David J. Foti, was driving his SUV west in the eastbound lanes of Route 22 when he crashed into another SUV that was eastbound about one-half mile down the roadway near the Fenneltown Road intersection.
On June 13, 2019, six people were taken to area hospitals for treatment after a wreck involving two tractor-trailers, a Westmoreland County Transit Authority bus and a car at the intersection of Routes 819 and 22 in Salem .
State troopers are investigating. No further information was immediately available.