Secondary roads still icy after wintry weekend weather

KINGSPORT — Secondary and back roads remain icy after nearly a foot of snowfall hit the Tri-Cities this past weekend. Temperatures this week are expected to rise to 35 to 45 degrees during the day and 20 to 35 overnight, the National Weather Service's Morristown field office previously told the Times News. Tuesday night rain may further help to melt the snow. Jim Bean, Sullivan County Emergency Management Agency director, said these warmer temperatures are starting to improve road conditions across the county. "The main roads are clear, but the back roads still have quite a bit of snow and ice on them this morning," Bean said on Tuesday. "As it starts to warm up, they'll begin clearing a little bit." Bean said the warmer weather is expected to help speed up clean-up efforts, allowing the Public Works Department to catch up on road clearing. The Kingsport Fire Department responded to one structure fire in Bloomingdale that was heat related, according to KFD Public Information Officer Barry Brickey. TDOT Mark Nagi, TDOT's Region 1 Communications Officer, said crews have been working around the clock across the area to clear roads. Workers began plowing and salting roadways Friday and continued over the weekend. "Interstates are always the top priority, and on Saturday, crews were working to prevent snow/ice from forming on the roadways," Nagi said. "Many interstate routes were like normal on Sunday. Crews are now plowing and salting secondary state routes across the region." Nagi said some roads may stay icy until temperatures start warming up. He said road treatment materials are less effective when temperatures fall to 16 degrees or lower. "Drivers on snow-covered roads should use extreme caution," he said. "We ask that motorists be sure to give our crews extra room to work so they can do so as safely as possible. Crews are still working to clear all roadways." Hawkins County Hawkins County's primary roads have been plowed and treated several times, Road Superintendent Danny Jones said, but most still have ice spots as of Tuesday afternoon. The county's highway department is beginning to work on secondary and back roads, which are still covered with snow and ice. Many roads, paved via chip and seal, can't take salt because it would ruin their material. "We've just got the primary roads starting to show black top now, so we've still got a long way to go," Jones said. Cold temperatures have made the process more difficult. "If you get below 20 degrees, the salt doesn't do its thing," Jones said. "Then, you're just wasting your salt." Jones said his department started out with 500 tons of salt, and has used around 300 tons in the consecutive winter storms. The department has been mixing its salt with crushed rock to preserve the supply. Road crews switched to using this rock, called chat, entirely in sub-20-degree weather. Jones said it might take a while to restock the salt. Scott County Secondary road conditions across the county were still a mix of clear and snow-ice covered, said county Emergency Coordinator Jeff Brickey on Tuesday. Paved roads were mostly clear with some icy and snowy patches, he said, while many of the 250 miles of unpaved secondary roads still had snow and ice coating. VDOT Bristol District spokesperson Michelle Earl said VDOT maintenance sites had 3,400 tons of salt on hand Tuesday. "Other districts are working with us to get transfers of salt here as quickly as possible," Earl said. "Our facilities have what we need on hand." In Scott County, VDOT and contractor crews have plowed and treated 80% of the county's paved secondary roads at least twice, Earl said, while the unpaved roads have been plowed and graveled at least once. While daytime temperatures are expected to remain above freezing through Sunday, she cautioned drivers to watch for refrozen ice and snow patches on bridges, underpasses and normally shady areas at night. Road conditions can be checked online at 511 Virginia. Staff writers Rebekah McNerney, Sarah Monoson and Mike Still contributed to this report.