Dawn on Marlin Luther King, Jr. Day lent much-needed sun and color after a dreary Sunday of icy rain. / Photo by Geoff Welch

The beautiful dawn on Monday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, brought blues skies and much-needed sunshine from weekend icy conditions.

Sunday morning Sloatsburg traffic after wintry mix weather conditions caused a backup along the Rt. 17 corridor heading south out of the village.

Sunday saw Sloatsburgers wake to what appeared to be a thin layer of ice. The reality of the day turned into something else entirely, with icy rain, causing slushy streets and slippery road conditions.

Over the weekend besides the chaos that the icecstorm caused on our roadways we had some other interesting calls…. http://t.co/jKbdwIkbwM

— Suffern Police (@SuffernPolice) January 19, 2015

Rt. 17 was backed up from the central village at the Sloatsburg Library, south past Auntie El’s and Davis Sports Shop to the Thruway exit. All along the route roads were slick with wintry mix as light icy conditions covered roadside plants and shrubs.

Rt. 17 Sunday morning bottleneck just south of Sloatsburg at Auntie El’s.

The Rt. 17 bottle neck south of Sloatsburg saw police and emergency vehicles creeping along road shoulders to provide assistance at several fender benders and stalled cars. The sight of bumper to bumper traffic made one wonder if the scene was a possible harbinger of things to come should the Ramapo Woodmont Hills Apartment complex get built at that particular point on the Rt. 17 corridor.

From a town planning perspective, Sloatsburg might benefit from a turn around access at the Sterling Mine Road off ramp.