While some Northern Virginia residents say their streets are in decent shape, others are concerned because they appear almost untouched after the weekend’s winter storm.
The Virginia Department of Transportation is responsible for plowing many neighborhoods across the region, and followed a standard of making roads passable. But now, the agency has dropped that term, “because it was kind of a subjective one,” according to spokesman Alex Liggitt.
VDOT aims to create an 8 to 10-foot path that is “suitable for emergency service vehicles. And really, that is it … just to make sure if there is any kind of an emergency occurring somewhere on your street, that emergency services can get there,” Liggitt said.
In response to this storm, crews have had to use bigger pieces of equipment, because the sleet and ice made the mounds of snow heavier, he said.
“They’re using front-end loaders, skid-steers, tractors to help really push and move this snow so folks can get out,” he said.
Bob Kolasky, who lives in a cul-de-sac in McLean, said the roads “have allowed us to do what we needed to do.”
“I’ve intentionally not been testing it too much,” Kolasky said. “I mean, it is what it is.”
Meanwhile, Alex, who said he lives near Lake Braddock, has had difficulty entering his neighborhood.
“Throughout my house, they haven’t cleaned up in front,” he said. “Maybe an ambulance can get through, but I have to park all the way on the main street because my car does not make it out of there.”
As a delivery driver, he said he’s “been lucky. I haven’t seen a neighborhood like mine.”
Having just left a restaurant, Carrie Blewitt said many of the main roads “are fine. The neighborhoods are still a little dicey.”
Liggitt said there isn’t necessarily a time when the agency’s response to the snow will end. People are still filing digital tickets and calling the Customer Service Center, making suggestions such as having some turn lanes become wider.
“We’re keeping our response active, and we’ll continue to do so until it’s no longer necessary,” Liggitt said.