Our goal is to make all roads passable within 48 hours after a storm ends. VDOT snow-removal crews work around the clock until conditions are safe for traveling. At night, hills and trouble spots are covered with abrasives such as sand, cinders or fine stone. Beginning around 4 a.m., crews prepare the roads for rush-hour traffic. Every year the street next to mine gets plowed, and my street is passed by until much later.
Many subdivisions have more than one snowplow assigned to clear their streets.
If the plow you see doesn't get to your street, it means another one has been assigned to your part of the neighborhood and will be along soon. Putting salt on road surfaces prior to a snowfall wastes time and money since the salt blows right off the highway. Under these conditions, the salt and snow will mix, melting the snow into a slush that can be plowed off the pavement. This melting action will occur within two hours, less if traffic is already using the highway. Abrasives are put down for traction, and calcium chloride can be added to melt the ice and snow.