RICHMOND, Va. -- In just a few hours, VDOT crews will be heading to work. But they say this storm will result in two different strategies to help keep roads safe.
But VDOT workers aren't the only ones coming in early. Dominion Virginia power says it has crews standing by ready to respond to outages.
Crews and their trucks are ready if icy conditions bring down any power lines.
"We're going to have crews in early, they'll be experienced, they'll be prepared and they'll be able to respond to any outage," said Dominion Virginia Power representative Rob Richardson.
If a power line does come down, Dominion crews say play it safe.
"In most cases, you won't be able to tell if the power line is energized when it comes down or not, and so the best thing to do is just to stay away from it," Richardson said.
Dominion says that they have everything they need to make repairs.
"Here at the West Broad location, we have everything that we need, poles, we have cross arms, we have transformers, anything we would need in the event of an outage," Richardson explained.
VDOT says this storm requires them to be prepared.
"For this particular storm, we will be able to pre-treat in the northern most part of our region, just because we do expect the storm to begin as snow in that area,” said VDOT’s Lindsay LeGrand. “In the southernmost part of this region, it will begin as a freezing rain, sleet mixture, and once that occurs, we aren't able to put the pre-treatment down.
"We probably won't be using any plows for this particular storm, because we are not expecting any accumulation of snow. For instance, we typically need an inch or two of snow before we can start plowing."
VDOT reports that it will spot treat certain routes before the storm. Since this storm is expected to begin as freezing rain in some areas, anti-icing chemicals may not be applied ahead of time. VDOT will continue to monitor the track of this storm and adjust resources as needed.
Motorists are advised that roads are likely to be slick and icy during the Wednesday morning commute. Drivers may encounter ice on the roads, particularly on bridges, overpasses, shaded and low-lying areas.
