CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – VDOT was able to get into the secondary and neighborhood streets Tuesday, but it’s still a good idea not to travel unless necessary, the Culpeper District’s Sharon Ketcham told WINA Morning News

Temperatures remain mostly below freezing and anything that melts and does not evaporate will go into a hard freeze overnight.

“The safest time, the safest bet, if you are going to venture out is when it gets up to that balmy 28, 29 degrees outside,” Ketcham said.

A late morning VDOT Culpeper District update read, “While progress continues, motorists should not expect bare pavement in many areas. With temperatures remaining below freezing, snow and ice can stay packed on roadways, even as crews continue snow removal and treatment operations.”

“VDOT crews will continue applying abrasives and treatment materials to improve traction for motorists,” the update added. “These materials help reduce slipping and improve drivability, but do not immediately remove snow and ice when temperatures remain below freezing.”

Ketcham said the plowing from this storm is hard work as she discovered riding with a plow operator from the Zion Crossroads VDOT station Saturday night.

“These guys are very experienced, it’s lot of hard work to get out there and plow these roads as you are bouncing around in those plow trucks,” she said. “They’re big, they’re heavy, they go about 22-miles-an-hour up a hill, and that’s flooring it is what the driver told me just because that snow with all that sleet was so heavy.”

Ketcham said with cold temperatures expected to continue, icy conditions and slick spots may persist, especially overnight and during the early morning hours.

She noted pavement temperatures overnight Monday into Tuesday morning were at zero and below.

An issue Ketcham said they’re finding in their road clearing operations is people shoveling snow, as many are “throwing the snow back out into the roadway and that’s dangerous for other cars.”

“If we’ve come through and plowed and you’ve shoveled it out onto the roadway, that’s going to create an issue for other cars coming along with other people trying to get out and about today,” Ketcham said. “So, please, please, please shovel to the right, shovel it so it doesn’t go into the roadway.”

For current conditions along each route, Ketcham said the public can log onto 511.vdot.virginia.gov. download the 511 Virginia app, or call 511 from any phone in Virginia.

Virginia residents can also ask any question or report a hazardous road condition to my.vdot.virginia.gov or call 800-FOR-ROAD (367-7623).