The winter season brought its first case of serious inclement weather last week in the form of snowstorms and freezing temperatures, resulting in hazardous driving conditions and a large number of traffic crashes and disabled vehicles.
The Virginia State Police fielded over 2,200 calls for service within only 12 hours of the snowstorm last Monday. They responded to a vehicle wreck Monday night in Loudoun County, which resulted in a fatality. Appomattox County itself had a total of 189 calls for service, including 78 for traffic crashes and 29 for disabled vehicles.
Jason Bond, media spokesperson for the Western District of the Virginia Department of Transportation, said that preceding a big storm, roads are usually pretreated with a salt brine which prevents ice and snow from bonding to the streets, making plowing afterwards a much easier job.
However, the incredibly low temperatures experienced with this particular snowstorm presented particular challenges.
“We could not do that with this particular event because it’s too cold,” Bond said. “When the temperatures get this cold, the salt-water just is not as effective and we just have to start plowing without the benefit of pretreating. The salt doesn’t melt as well with temperatures below 20 degrees.”
Bond said the ice then has to be treated with liquid calcium chloride, which acts as a de-icer and speeds up the melting rates of the ice and snow compacted on the streets. He said plowing has been progressing slowly on secondary roads, which include neighborhood roads and smaller streets.
“We have been plowing the past few days, but there is a layer that just won’t come up,” he said. “We do not put salt or calcium chloride on secondary roads because they can attract moisture and can make more potholes in the spring. We just can’t treat the secondary roads the same way we treat main roads.”
Bond offered safety advice to those driving in inclement weather or under hazardous conditions.
“The best thing to do is to avoid driving unless you actually have to,” he said. “Delay driving if possible so we can get out there and plow the roads and improve conditions.”
Bond also recommended knowing what the road conditions are and planning trips ahead of time accordingly.
“If you are out, then you want to give yourself plenty of time,” he said. “Stay back from our plows and try not to make any sudden stops on our roadways.”
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