The winter snow and ice may have left the First State behind, but the work continues for DelDOT crews trying to clear icy roads.
DelDOT crews were hard at work during and after the storm, trying to make roads passable. While no more precipitation is expected over the next few days, DelDOT’s C. R. McLeod says the big concern over the next 24 or more hours is ice.
“Any snow or ponding of water on the roads is going to turn to ice," he says. "And because of those really cold temperatures, salt is less effective.”
Unlike many winter storms that have hit Delaware in previous years, this one brought with it a significant amount of ice, making roads harder to clear,. Compounding the challenge are the ongoing below-freezing temperatures.
“This storm was unique in the fact that we just had a prolonged period of sleet and freezing rain," McLeod says.
However, predicted sunshine and light winds over the next few days will make it easier to get the roads dry and safe, McLeod says.
He adds that, in general, the travel lanes of major roadways are in good shape now, and the focus for DelDOT is clearing turning lanes and crossovers, as well as pushing the snow and ice farther back from the road so that any melting doesn’t re-ice roadways.
A level two driving restriction for New Castle and Kent Counties was downgraded to a Level 1 advisory Monday morning, encouraging drivers to avoid all but necessary travel, but not prohibiting people from driving. A Level 1 advisory in Sussex County has been lifted outright.
McLeod credits drivers observing those restrictions and warnings with helping DelDOT get the roads clear more efficiently.
Even after the storm is long gone, its effects will remain. Ice getting into cracks in the roadway leads to potholes, and McLeod predicts that this storm could cause a lot of potholes to pop up later this year.
