WASHINGTON – First came the snow, then came the snow plows. Thousands of crews are working around-the-clock to treat and remove the snowy, icy roadways one at a time.
It’s a massive job.
“We have 4,000 trucks,” says VDOT spokeswoman Jennifer McCord.
“They’ve been working on primary roads, interstates, and 16,000 neighborhood streets. Crews have gotten to just about all of those in Northern Virginia.”
D.C.’s Department of Public Works spokeswoman Linda Grant says her department has also treated virtually every street.
“The streets received some kind of attention but with the additional snow last night, we had to go back and redo work. This is now a salting operation because of the ice.”
Meanwhile in Montgomery County, Phil Letarte’s private street is buried under a foot of snow.
“We’re completely isolated. I’m going to try to put some chains on my van and see if we can get out of here.”
The Darnestown resident dug out his 300 foot driveway but the street is untreated, so he can’t get out of his neighborhood.
“I have a prescription I have to get. I can’t get it. My wife works for the government, she can’t go to work today.”
Montgomery County spokesman Patrick Lacefield says all of its residential roads should be plowed by midnight Friday. The county’s central business districts pose a particular challenge — there’s nowhere for the plowed snow to go. “So we’ll be going in overnight to Silver Spring, Bethesda and Wheaton with dump trucks to pick up the snow and haul it away.”
- Click here for more information about Montgomery County Snow Removal
- Click here for more information about Montgomery County jurisdictions that plow streets.
- Click here for the Montgomery County snow plow map.
- Click here for the VDOT plow map.
- Click here for the D.C. Snow Response Reporting System.
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