HENRICO COUNTY, Va. β Henrico public works crews are prioritizing hills and getting emergency responders access to where they need to go, and do not expect to be able to clear neighborhood roads until temperatures potentially warm up on Monday and Tuesday.
"We are having to prioritize. There is just limited equipment that is actually effective on what we're dealing with,β Terrell Hughes, Director of Henrico Countyβs Department of Public Works said. "We're not able to do a full response."
Neighborhood roads in the county remain covered in several inches of cold, hard ice five days after last weekend's winter storm, leaving residents frustrated and struggling to navigate their communities.
The main roads have been cleared, but getting out of neighborhoods remains treacherous.
Terry Kennedy, who came to help a friend near Parham and Staples Mill roads, described the challenging conditions.
"The main roads are fine but getting out of a neighborhood like this, it's tough," Kennedy said.
CBS 6 reporter Melissa Hipolit spotted several cars fishtailing and even getting stuck on a nearby hill while reporting in the area. Kennedy's own neighborhood in the Lakeside area of the county faces the same icy conditions.
"I'm a little frustrated. I saw on the news they were saying they were going to come by and bring some sand, but I haven't seen any in my neighborhood," Kennedy said.
Henrico's Department of Public Works Director Terrell Hughes explained that crews are prioritizing hills and emergency access routes because the ice is simply too thick on many neighborhood roads to effectively treat.
Hughes described the ice as so hard and heavy that it causes plows to malfunction.
"It's just impossible for your crews to break this up?β Hipolit asked.
"Yeah, yeah it'll make the blade flip down or the blade will skip, it's just too hard too heavy," Hughes replied.
Both Kennedy and Hughes agreed this storm's impact is unprecedented for the area.
"I've never seen a storm like this, not with this much ice ... this is really the worst I've ever seen it," Kennedy said.
Hughes echoed that sentiment, explaining the unique nature of this weather event.
"In this particular event, just so much sleet and the extremely low temperatures has just really hardened some of this ice," Hughes said. "We have people that have worked in this department for 40 plus years that have never seen an event like this."
Residents should not expect plows or salt trucks on neighborhood streets that remain sheets of ice until potentially Monday, unless there's a 911 response or problematic hills requiring immediate attention.
If additional winter weather arrives this weekend, Hughes said crews will have to reset and focus once again on primary and secondary roads, meaning neighborhood streets likely won't receive treatment.
Click here to email the CBS 6 Newsroom.
π²: CONNECT WITH US
Blue Sky | Facebook | Instagram | X | Threads | TikTok | YouTube
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. To learn more about how we use AI in our newsroom, click here.
