RICHMOND, Va. β Road crews across central Virginia are working around the clock to clear ice-covered streets nearly 48 hours after a winter storm brought snow, sleet and freezing temperatures to the region.
While most main roads are now passable, many neighborhood streets remain covered in a thick layer of ice that's proving difficult to remove due to persistently low temperatures.
"We probably had two three inches of snow plus sleet on top of that, which has now essentially become a four or five-inch hard pack," said Dale Totten, Richmond District Engineer at VDOT.
The challenging conditions are forcing crews to change their typical snow removal methods. Traditional chemical treatments aren't effective in the extreme cold, requiring a more strategic approach to clearing roads.
"Our traditional methods of snow removal are not going to be very applicable. It's going to be so cool that your chemicals will not work. And so we're going to have to be very judicious about how we utilize our resources and take advantage of those better weather days," Totten said.
Richmond Department of Public Works crews are focusing on primary and secondary roads today, with plans to move into subdivisions Tuesday night. They expect to continue operations through early Thursday.
"We expect to be there for through early Thursday, and we're finishing up on our primaries and secondaries today, and we are we're also spreading salt and sand to prevent black ice that you may see from the moisture on the roadways," Torrence Robinson with Richmond DPW said.
The ice accumulation has required additional treatment methods beyond typical snow removal.
"With ice accumulation, we've come back with even more treatment with sand and salt creeping on top of the ice that's accumulated," Robinson said.
Crews from VDOT, Richmond, Henrico and Petersburg are all coordinating efforts, with overnight maintenance planned followed by more aggressive clearing operations in the morning. VDOT snow plows can be tracked by clicking here.
Officials warn drivers to exercise extreme caution if they must travel, as the freezing temperatures create dangerous black ice conditions on roadways.
"This storm has kind of threw a couple of curve balls at us, with the with the prolonged low temperatures, and then another one another, something expected this weekend. So we're looking out for that too. So again, just be patient with us," Robinson said.
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