Why Are Most Roads Still Barely Passable? (Reston, Franconia: Valentine's day, credit)

[SteelCityRising]

Okay, so before I get flamed please bear in mind that I realize 30" of snow from one storm is something quite unique for any region, let alone one in the Mid-Atlantic, but I just had to run out today on an "emergency" to follow a tow truck with a friend whose car had broken down. I trekked down North Shore Drive in East Central Reston, heading from the Parc Reston area towards Lake Anne. Near Lake Anne Elementary School I had to stop as oncoming cars trying to come UP the hill were all stuck, blocking both lanes of traffic in the process. I turned around and went back up to Temporary Road, figuring I'd make a right onto Reston Parkway followed by a right onto Baron Cameron Avenue. Temporary Road was an absolute disgrace as well, as I had to shimmy around as I, too, got stuck, and this is one of the busiest side streets in all of Reston.

Reston Parkway was remarkably better---still not down to the pavement but not riddled with huge unplowed ruts either like most other streets. Baron Cameron Avenue was also passable, but even then I found myself sliding a bit and feeling very uneasy. Then I turned onto Village Road to head back towards Lake Anne, and I saw a half-dozen cars stopped coming OUT of that road---all stuck in the deeply-rutted unplowed road. I gunned it for all it was worth and plowed through the road full steam ahead, running the stop sign to turn left onto North Shore Drive so I wouldn't get stuck (there were no other oncoming vehicles). I went to turn onto Moorings Drive, and once again there was a car stuck trying to pull ONTO North Shore Drive. I had to swing around onto the other side of the road and nearly fish-tailed trying to get around this person.

Then on the way to the garage in Sterling my jaw dropped to see Sunset Hills Road in Reston and Herndon was nearly DRY while most other roads still had barely even been touched. With a major hospital in Reston and with North Shore Drive in particular being home to a major elderly high-rise and an elementary school shouldn't roads in that area be given somewhat of a priority? This isn't along d-fens's post of "Why does NoVA suck..." I'm just legitimately curious as to how this storm could have stopped at 4 PM on Saturday, and here we are nearly 72 hours later, and most streets are still dangerous. In PA we were dug out by now from any blizzard we ever had, even the infamous Valentine's Day storm in 2007. Now with another foot or more on the way in a matter of hours, will it even be POSSIBLE to clear streets that haven't been touched yet?

P.S. A polite word of advice: Do NOT wear all dark colors on Reston's largely streetlight-less streets while walking when it's dark. Thank you.

[FindingZen]

I don't believe that Virginia has the manpower or budget that Pennsylvania does for clearing snow - at least when comparing what's allocated to NOVA vs. NEPA.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Tone509

I don't believe that Virginia has the manpower or budget that Pennsylvania does for clearing snow - at least when comparing what's allocated to NOVA vs. NEPA.

Oh I completely understand that and also realize that the few roads crews we do have probably have been working around the clock. However, when I see people zooming along at 45 on Sunset Hills Road on nearly dry pavement while a major intersection (Village Road & North Shore Drive) nearer to my home and adjacent to an elderly high-rise still hasn't been plowed enough of the ruts to prevent people from getting stuck and need to be pushed out I really must then question the priorities of those in charge. Why was Sunset Hills Road near Reston's Target the best stretch of road on my entire commute while roads nearer to schools, a hospital, and senior citizen living areas remain very poorly plowed is more along my lines of thinking. Temporary Road, just now, is finally very passable, but that road, a busy one, was hellacious for quite some time.

[FindingZen]

If you haven't already seen it already, check out the "Still Not Plowed" thread currently just below this one. Apparently some people, particularly those in HOAs, have had more success than those waiting for VDOT.

[oneasterisk]

I don't know if I'd say most roads are barely passable. Most of the roads I've travelled to/from work and errands are in pretty good condition. Maybe it depends on the area you're in, but not all roads are in bad shape so the title is a bit misleading IMO.

There are still roads where it should be 2 lanes, but really are1 3/4 and sometimes less than that. You have to keep an eye out for those as sometimes the lane you're in just disappears. It's mostly the left hand lane since that's where the snow pushers are directing the snow.

[tgbwc]

Friends of ours were able to pick us up and go out for breakfast this morning. What we didn't get is roads like the FX CO Parkway/Franconia Parkway are not in good condition, but all it would take is a few passes of the plow to move the loose stuff. Where have the plows gone?

[DCguy03]

While it's not an easy decision, I think it's good that they focused on getting the major roads first. It seems that given the # of plows our state has, there isn't a way to win here...they just have to go at it one road at a time.

Also, I hope that the plow drivers are able to get enough rest between shifts...I've heard that in some cases they just keep going for 24 hours+ straight...which can't be a safe thing to do while driving a massive vehicle.

[ngadude]

Originally Posted by DCguy03

While it's not an easy decision, I think it's good that they focused on getting the major roads first. It seems that given the # of plows our state has, there isn't a way to win here...they just have to go at it one road at a time.

Also, I hope that the plow drivers are able to get enough rest between shifts...I've heard that in some cases they just keep going for 24 hours+ straight...which can't be a safe thing to do while driving a massive vehicle.

I feel for the snow plow drivers. On WTOP the traffic lady said some people were calling in complaining about the snow plows ahead of them, slowing down their commute! That's crazy, the snow plows are trying to make the roads better, so it is making your driving slower, that's probably a good thing. There's some crazy impatient people out there, apparently, as WTOP got a number of calls from people complaining the plows were snowing down their commute around 6 AM this morning!

I can't imagine doing that job for so many hours without sleep in the cold weather, etc. Anyone who is a snow plow driver deserves a ton of credit in my book.

[stax]

Actually, after spending the past few days in Reston (I stayed in a hotel so that I could get to back and forth to work this weekend), I would have to say that Reston is probably one of the best areas that I've seen done, based on what I've seen, and what my co-workers have observed in their neighborhoods. Large parts of Loudoun County seem to be hit or miss, and Montgomery County seems to be rather unorganized in terms of who is getting their snow removed (I have a co-worker who has yet to see a plow in his neighborhood). Keep in mind Scran, this is a completely unprecedented event, with the area getting three 3 storms in the span of 1 week, so to compare it to an area that is a tenth of the size of ours, especially one that has much more experience with dealing with snow, is simply not fair.

[normie]

They're doing the best they can.

It's a little like asking "why does Haiti have doctors treating patients in tents?" The answer is the same: they're doing the best they can after Mother Nature sent them a phenomenon that would be overwhelming anywhere... and, making it more challenging, a phenomenon that's uncommon in that region.

It's always tough when you can't treat every urgent situation at once. You have to pick one emergency over the other. In this case, VDOT needs to focus on the main roads before tonight's storm. Tonight's storm is going to be much scarier, IMO, and more problematic for the road crews because a lot of trees are going to go over. Secondary roads may be barely passable, but as long as they're passable at all that's going to have to be good enough until this next storm passes.