NCDOT continues to clear roads of snow and ice following winter storm

SOUTHEASTERN NC (WWAY) — Many major highways and secondary roads across the Cape Fear remain covered with patches of snow and ice.

Road conditions remain treacherous as more people are expected to return to work on Friday.

State DOT crews pretreated many roads before the storm and have been working to clear the streets since early Wednesday morning.

In Brunswick County, many drivers were forced to reduce speed due to the hazardous conditions.

Battle Whitley is the division maintenance engineer for the NCDOT’s Division 3.

He said patches of ice and snow are still visible on some roads because it’s too cold for salt to melt them.

“Salt is about 87 percent less effective at these lower temperatures,” Whitley said. “One pound of salt can melt 46 pounds of ice at 30 degrees. You drop the temperature down to 15 degrees, that same pound of salt can only melt about 6 pounds of ice.”

It’s not just DOT crews who have been busy.

Highway Patrol Trooper Jon Gurganus said the Cape Fear has seen more than 4 times the number of calls for property damage and injury compared to last week.

He added that there have not yet been any fatal crashes reported in our area since the storm hit.

With temperatures expected to remain low Thursday night into Friday, Gurganus urges drivers to remain cautious.

“Increase your following distance,” Gurganus said. “As you approach intersections and off-ramps, know that you’re going to have to have a longer braking period so that you don’t have to apply a lot of brakes at one time. If you hit ice and you’re, you have steering input and brakes, it’s not going to be your friend.”

Whitley adds that DOT crews should begin clearing more secondary roads on Friday.

Additional reinforcements, 24 more trucks from across the state, have also arrived to help with clearing roads here in the Cape Fear.