Snow Removal in Virginia

When snow falls the Department of Transportation mobilizes a fleet of employees, equipment and contractors. Before the winter weather begins most people see snow plows and other snow removal equipment driving around getting ready to clear the roads but then it can seem like forever before the road in front of your house gets any attention!

It can be very frustrating when you see roads around you getting cleared or watch the snow plows go past and you street is still snow packed. VDOT does have a plan for snow removal that includes every road and street in the state. They do not clear sidewalks or pathways but there is a very organized method apparent VDOT madness.

Here are a few things to answer a few snow removal questions when you are wondering why your road is still snowy.

Snow plows do not plow all the way down to the pavement for several reasons including speed and the risk of damaging expensive and crucial equipment. Under the snow there is usually a layer of ice that adheres to the pavement and the snow actually acts as an insulator keeping this layer of ice frozen until the snow is removed by sun or plow.

VDOT plows through taking off this top layer on the first pass.
On this first pass of snow removal they also lay down calcium chloride to start breaking up the icy layer and an abrasive (sand mixture) to give traction to the cars driving on the roads. Giving nature and chemistry time to break down the ice is more effective and actually faster than trying to mechanically break up the ice and do a complete clear on the first pass of the snow plows.

Calcium Chloride and Abrasives
Virginia does not use salt because it is not the right product for roadway snow removal but the state does use calcium chloride and abrasives to help clear the roads and give cars a little extra traction. While the chemicals are breaking down the ice and hopefully getting a little help from the sun melting the ice VDOT continues to clear other roads making them passable. The snow removal priority is of course to get a single lane plowed and treated on every road before completely clearing most roads.

It can be days from the first pass that VDOT plows until they returning to your street. This is especially true if you live on a low priority road and weather is not cooperative. A good indicator is usually the school systems which consult with VDOT to determine when and how long school will be closed.

Listen to school closings to know how bad the roads are.

Your school district has an inclement weather plan and most districts now publish the exact procedure for making the closure decision posted on the district website. If your school district has closed school for 1 day then you should not expect a residential road to be cleared before the evening of that day!

Most school districts are optimistic in their closures. They hope that road conditions will be good quickly and do not want to waste a snow day so if they are cancelling school for 2 days you can make a safe bet that VDOT is expecting it to take three days to have residential or low priority roads in reasonable shape.

In Virginia it is especially true that conditions can vary widely in the same locality. Snow removal can be very spotty. Roads can be bone dry in some areas and snow packed in the shady areas of back roads. As long as there are roads that are snow packed VDOT will be less concerned with a subdivision road that have pavement exposed.

For updated road conditions anywhere is Virginia call 5-1-1.

Frequently Asked Questions: Snow Removal and Snow Driving. Virginia Department of Transportation