The Virginia Department of Transportation is warning drivers to stay away from Interstate 95 Tuesday morning so crews can free up hundreds of drivers who remain stranded or in slow-moving traffic in temperatures well-below freezing, in what officials are describing as an “unprecedented” event.
The situation currently unfolding in Northern Virginia comes after a winter storm dumped up to a foot of snow and toppled trees across the Fredericksburg region Monday. As of right now, Interstate-95 remains closed northbound and southbound between Exits 104 and 152 leading up to the Washington, D.C., metro area and there are reports of drivers being trapped on the icy roads for more than 15 hours.
“We know many travelers have been stuck on Interstate 95 in our region for extraordinary periods of time over the past 24 hours, in some cases since Monday morning. This is unprecedented, and we continue to steadily move stopped trucks to make progress toward restoring lanes,” Marcie Parker, an engineer with the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Fredericksburg district, said in a statement.
DRIVERS TRAPPED ON VIRGINIA INTERSTATE AS TEMPERATURES DROPPED DURING THE OVERNIGHT
“In addition to clearing the trucks, we are treating for snow and several inches of ice that has accumulated around them to ensure that when the lanes reopen, motorists can safely proceed to their destination,” she added.
VDOT also said “plans are underway to guide vehicles currently stopped on interstate to nearby interchanges, where they can access alternate routes” and “resources from across Virginia have been deployed to support debris removal, road treatment and clearance efforts on I-95 and state-maintained roads in the Fredericksburg area, with more trucks arriving this morning.”
Trucks could be seen in a standstill along parts of the I-95 in Virginia after a major snowstorm,
(VDOT Fredericksburg)
Reports said that as of 5 a.m. Tuesday, that the southbound lanes of…
Source : foxnews
