RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR)--The Richmond region can expect sleet and icy conditions early Sunday with the potential for small amounts of ice accumulation.
Temperatures are expected to rise by mid afternoon Sunday followed by rain throughout most of the region. [Click HERE for full forecast]
Virginia Department of Transportation crews will hit the street midnight Sunday. VDOT said that have prepared trucks and equipment for the looming storm, and have equipment operators on hand.
Workers inside the VDOT traffic center monitor various roadways. Pavement sensors detect freezing temperatures and ice and send an audible alert to the station to send workers out to the locations. Workers also activate electronic message boards to let drivers know about dangerous conditions.
VDOT's goal is to use all the resources they have at the time to keep drivers and their families safe.
VDOT said that available road treatment materials include; 60,000 tons of salt, 20,000 tons of sand, 12,000 tons of treated abrasives, 162,000 gallons of brine mixture, 55,000 gallons of liquid calcium chloride and 6,800 gallons of liquid magnesium chloride.
VDOT will choose the most effective road treatment method for the forecasted conditions.
“The rain that we had the last couple of days and then on into Saturday, that really prevents us from going out and putting treatment on the road ahead of time,“ Dawn Eischen said. They need a dry road before they can put down the treatment.
They have beefed up manpower to deal with the approaching storm. VDOT will have to wait for the ice to come before deploying crews they said. V
The Richmond District has 1,300 pieces of equipment, with an additional 1,500 available through contractors.
Virginia Dominion Power said that they are ready, have bucket trucks and ask the public to contact them immediately when/if power is lost.
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