Multiple crashes slow Route 28 northbound traffic in Etna; 1 motorcyclist injured

At least one person was injured Friday when a motorcycle and a truck crashed along Route 28 in Etna — among multiple incidents slowing traffic in the highway’s northbound lanes during the afternoon rush-hour commute, initial reports indicate.

State police shut down the Exit 4/Etna off-ramp around 6:45 p.m. as they worked to clear at least two accidents in the area.

Dispatchers received a report of the first incident on Route 28’s northbound lanes near the Route 8 interchange shortly before 6 p.m., an Allegheny County 911 shift commander said.

The initial report suggested that the driver of the motorcycle may have injured his leg, the shift commander said. He was taken by medics to a nearby hospital.

No further information was immediately available.

State police are investigating.

A separate, multi-vehicle crash was reported shortly after 6:30 p.m. also near Exit 4, dispatchers said.

About a half-hour earlier, police responded to a two-vehicle crash at Butler Street and Evergreen Road in Millvale in which nobody was reported injured.

Traffic remained backed up from Millvale to Sharpsburg for drivers heading north along Route 28 as of 7 p.m.

Officials urged drivers to consider alternate routes.