DOH Crews Still Working Around the Clock to Maintain and Treat Roads

It's been a busy week for the Division of Highways, as crews have been working around the clock to keep your roads clear. After being in plow mode for several days, they're finally able to utilize some of their road salt, now that the sun is out and temperatures have risen.

With temperatures continuing to drop into the night, the Division of Highways said it had a short reprieve Monday to continue to maintain roads across North Central West Virginia.

"Rock salt is basically effective until about 15 degrees. Now, if you have a bright, sunny day and it's 15 degrees and rising, we'll still use it. In fact, we may even use it at lower temperatures, but its effectiveness decreases as those temperatures go below 15 degrees," said Ray Urse, District 4 engineer/manager.

With temperatures averaging in the mid-to-upper teens Monday afternoon, those salt and plow trucks were out in full force using chemical de-icing agents on asphalt and concrete roads. As for the other roads....

"We cannot use those chemicals on stone-based roads or tar and chip roads because it will destroy the base of those roads. We use #8 stone, or what people refer to as "P-Gravel," as an abrasive. It offers nothing in the way of melting ice, but it does afford some traction," said Urse.

Urse said his crews work on a priority basis, treating the interstates and primary connecting routes first. Those same crews then move to the secondary roads, which include bus routes with the highest daily traffic counts, and continue down the list.

"If we get a subsequent snow, we have to return to priority ones immediately. So they have to be clear before we go to twos, threes, and fours," said Urse.

That means that it may take crews some time to get to some rural areas. Urse says many of the roads he receives complaints about are for "chain traffic only" - as noted in the guidelines from the DOH's maintenance manual.

"We will remove snow in a priority basis, but those roads will not be cleared. It is the responsibility of the public to get out to the primary roads. We're out every day. It may not be on the road that you live on, but we're out every day," said Urse.

Any questions regarding snow removal should be directed to the Department of Transportation's Citizens Assistance Line at 1(800) 642-9292.

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DOH Crews Still Working Around the Clock to Maintain and Treat Roads