VDOT preparing for winter snow, ice removal

The high today is expected to reach into the low 70s, but Virginia Department of Transportation officials plan to talk with the media about snow removal.

The transportation agency, charged with keeping highways across the state free of snow and ice, has a budget of $79.6 million for removal, a news release says. The agency also has $14.1 million for interstate and primary roads that the agency maintains through contracts.

The agency has 2,314 pieces of equipment, stockpiles that include 62,000 tons of sand and 239,000 tons of salt, and 3,146 crew members who will be ready at the first sign of precipitation mixed with freezing temperatures, the release says.

Last year, the agency began a new system of spraying chemicals on roads before precipitation began to prevent snow and ice from bonding on the roads, the release says. That process, which includes salt brine, magnesium chloride and calcium chloride, will be used again this year.

The agency’s goal is for all the roads to be passable within 48 hours of a storm’s end, the release says. Interstates are cleared first, along with primary roads and major secondary roads that connect cities, fire stations and other public facilities.

Secondary roads and subdivision streets could be cleared if storms over the course of several days, but the focus will be on streets with the highest traffic volume.

For more information, call 511 or go to www.511virginia.org or http://www.virginiadot.org/travel/snow.asp.