‘Working around the clock’: All Henrico subdivision roads should be treated for ice by tomorrow

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- The Henrico County Department of Public Works (DPW) said all subdivision roads will be treated with a 50/50 sand and salt mix by tomorrow if it hasn't been treated already.

It’s been eight days since snow fell across central Virginia. Freezing temperatures then turned the snow into thick ice. 

"From noon Friday to 8 a.m. today, our fleet covered more than 76,000 miles!" the county posted on Facebook.

While Henrico residents have shared their frustrations with us, one woman told 8News she feels "abandoned."

DPW director Terrell Hughes thanked the community for their patience.

“We’ve got people who’ve been here for well over four decades, they’ve never seen an ice event like this," he said.

Hills and emergency routes have been the priority. Hughes said the Virginia Department of Transportation treated the most populated roads like Broad Street, allowing the county to more quickly tend to subdivisions. 

“By the time we got to our subdivision streets we were dealing with a lot more, you know, tougher conditions in terms of just frozen ice," Hughes said.

He says plowing would be like trying to plow cement, and wants to avoid pileups of ice in front of people's driveway.  

Any neighborhoods missed over the weekend or on Monday, Feb. 2, will be treated Tuesday, Feb. 3. Then they’ll focus on re-treating roads where it’s needed, Hughes said they have a good supply of the sand and salt mix. 

If your street hasn’t been treated, call 804-501-4393.

“We’ve got about 220 people who work for us that have been working around the clock," Hughes told 8News.  

Over 300 if you include contractors that have been brought on.

Temperatures will get above freezing this week, so ice will begin to melt naturally. 

An after-action meeting will be scheduled to “adjust the playbook as needed" in the case of a similar situation.