Snowfall from back-to-back winter storms is keeping North Carolina Department of Transportation workers busy clearing snow and ice. The DOT maintains approximately 80% of North Carolina’s public roadways — some 80,000 miles’ worth.
After a weekend of snowplowing, the interstates have been cleared, as have roughly 75% of primary, or state-maintained, highways. Some icy spots — particularly on bridges, on-ramps, and overpasses — will remain due to the cold weather.
But Division Engineer Wright Archer says the frigid temperatures came with a silver lining.
"This event, it was so cold that the snow was powdery," he says. "I know at my house, I was using a leaf blower to blow the snow away. And typically we have a wet, thick, sticky snow that’s hard to shovel. So I think this event was easier to plow. We actually didn't use as much salt on this storm, just because it didn't bond, didn't really stick to the asphalt."
Archer adds that the next primary routes to be addressed will be two-lane rural roads.
He’s hesitant to provide a timeline for when all roads will be cleared, explaining that while warming daytime temperatures over the next few days will help, applying chemicals to treat scattered icy areas is a more time-consuming process than plowing.