HOLLAND TWP., MI (WHTC) – Road construction work was a factor in a three-vehicle pileup just east of Holland on Thursday afternoon.
According to sheriff’s deputies, the vehicles of 16-year-old Makayla Lubbers of Holland and 45-year-old Thomas Hrpcha of Elwood, Illinois, near Joliet, were stopped for a traffic backup on southbound US-31 near 8th Street. Another southbound vehicle, driven by 53-year-old Silvia Almendarez-Esparza of Holland, saw the green light ahead but apparently not the stopped traffic and plowed into the rear of Lubbers’ vehicle. The force of that collision pushed Lubbers’ vehicle into Hrpcha’s.
Almendarez-Esparza was taken to Holland Hospital in serious condition, but was expected to recover, while the other two drivers were not injured. All three were buckled up at the time.
US-31 is narrowed to one lane in both directions between 24th and 32nd avenues through July 31st due to railroad crossing work, as CSX crews are working on the Hamilton Spur line.
