Maryland, Virginia and District officials said they were keeping snowplows and salt trucks out on the roads Thursday night until the area’s snow and sleet subsided, hoping to keep roads clear for the morning commute.
“We’ve got about 200 trucks deployed throughout the District putting out salt treatments and brine treatments that we’ve found to be very successful during these storms,” D.C. Department of Transportation spokeswoman Karyn Le Blanc said. “We will have trucks out through the entire storm and will continue to have trucks out once it’s ended.”
Dozens of crashes were reported on the slippery roads Thursday, and Metrobus routes in Falls Church, Annandale, Mount Pleasant and Georgetown were detoured because of them; the E6 and D2 buses routes were not running at all.
Train service ran as scheduled, and Metro authorities said they would keep trains running overnight to “polish” the rails, which helps keep them clear of ice and snow for the morning.
Virginia transportation officials deployed four deicer trucks to the Springfield Interchange and one to Interstate 66 for the Thursday evening commute and had about 1,000 snowplows and salt trucks working Northern Virginia roads.
The plows were scheduled to move from highways to subdivisions and commuter lots later in the night.
The Maryland State Highway Administration deployed more than 1,500 trucks and plows through the state highway system, and expected to keep them on the road throughout the storm, officials said.
Area officials reminded drivers to stay 25 feet behind snowplows and avoid trying to pass them, and also warned them to be extra careful when driving by crosswalks.
The region’s snow and sleet was expected to taper off late in the evening, turning to rain in most areas, the National Weather Service said, though Prince William, Loudoun and Fairfax counties could see ice accumulation of up to a tenth of an inch.
Inside-the-Beltway areas were expected to see between 2 and 4 inches of snow and sleet accumulation during the storm, with 3 to 6 inches expected in areas farther north and west.
