VDOT kicking off snow removal operations again in Shenandoah Valley

Another round of winter weather is forecasted to move into the Shenandoah Valley late tonight and into Sunday. People are asked not to drive if possible.

If travel is necessary, drivers are asked to give snow crews room to work. Several inches of snow are expected with heavy snow in the early morning hours. The Virginia Department of Transportation Staunton District will be pre-treating interstate roads with brine beginning on Saturday morning. Crews will be deployed overnight to begin plowing and treating roads as the snow begins.

Due to expected changing driving conditions throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, it is advised to monitor weather forecasts for updated information before any travel is attempted

Road conditions and traffic cameras can be found on the VDOT 511 website at www.511Virginia.org, Roads with snow conditions will be marked minor, moderate, severe or closed. For a text listing of winter weather road conditions go to www.511Virginia.org, look at the orange bar on the top of the page and click on “Text Views” and then click on “Road Condition Table”. Look at the pull down box that lists all jurisdictions. In this box individual counties can be chosen to view.

Road condition definitions:

• Closed – Road is closed to all traffic.
• Severe – drifting or partially blocked road.
• Moderate – snow or ice on major portions of the roadway.
• Minor – bare pavement except for isolated spots of snow, ice or slush. Driving with caution is recommended.

On the go? Then visit VDOT’s Free Virginia 511 Tools to get your 511 app for android or iOS. Traffic alerts and traveler information can be obtained by dialing 511.

The VDOT Customer Service Center can be accessed through its mobile friendly website at my.vdot.virginia.gov. Agents are on site 24/7 every day of the year to assist the public. People can also call the VDOT Customer Service Center at 800-FOR- ROAD (800-367-7623).

The Staunton District Snow Page is on the VDOT website under Travel Center Snow Emergency Pages. The Staunton District Twitter feed is at @VaDOTStaunton.

VDOT statewide Twitter messages can be found at @VaDOT. The nine districts can be found at:Hampton Roads @VaDOTHR; Richmond @VaDOTRVA; Northern Virginia @VaDOTNOVA; Fredericksburg @VaDOTFred; Culpeper @VaDOTCulp; Lynchburg @VaDOTLynchburg; Bristol @VaDOTBristol; Salem @VaDOTSalem; Staunton @VaDOTStaunton.

VDOT can be followed on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube. RSS feeds are also available for statewide information. The VDOT Web page is located at www.VirginiaDOT.org.

The VDOT Staunton District serves Frederick, Shenandoah, Clarke, Warren, Page, Rockingham, Augusta, Highland, Rockbridge, Alleghany and Bath counties.