Henrico Public Works director: Main roads in 'fairly good shape,' but frozen streets of ice making it a 'slow go' in subdivisions

Henrico County Public Works staffers continued on Wednesday to clear county roads of the snow and sleet from last weekend's storm that have formed into massive sheets of ice. The process has been challenging, because ongoing bitter cold temperatures have made plows less effective against the packed ice and snow combination. Those conditions have kept many residents in county subdivisions stuck at home.

Henrico County Public Works Director Terrell Hughes spoke with the Henrico Citizen to give an update on his staff's progress and the county's road conditions as freezing temperatures were predicted to continue through the rest of the week and another snowstorm was on its way this weekend.

Henrico Citizen: Can you give a general update on road snow clearing in Henrico County?

Terrell Hughes: Our main roads, major roads, and then what we would consider our secondary routes, those are all in fairly good shape. We were able to clear those during the active event. Now we're working into subdivisions. One of the big challenges right now that we're dealing with is, a lot of those roads, we didn't get snow for the most part. We got sleet. A lot of it has turned into sheets of ice. It's slowed [the workers] down and it's really limiting the type of equipment we can use on the subdivision roads. 

Our standard snowplow, the dump trucks are actually, not really able to get through the ice down to the pavement. So we've been limited to using what we would call our heavy equipment, which are like motor graders and front-end loaders to handle subdivision streets. But it's been a slow go.

Whenever we're working on a street, it can take hours to, to get a street clear. So, our crews are putting down a sand salt mix. It's mostly been prioritized towards hills.

We're getting a lot of calls from residents wondering when we're going to get to their streets. Unfortunately, if this was a normal snow event, we probably would have been through the neighborhoods already. But with the amount of equipment that we have in terms of trucks, it's been a slow process just due to the thick sheets of ice.

We've cleared most of our primary network and in our secondary network, which, for Henrico is a little bit different than Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). VDOT  handles Broad Street, the big roads. So our primaries are probably a lower tier than what you would see in other counties as well as the secondaries. A lot of those are actually main roads and subdivisions. So, a lot of miles in Henrico have been cleared.

If people can get out of their neighborhood, they'll probably see a lot of the roads are very passable, especially when you're getting towards hospitals and commercial areas. The bulk majority of the streets in Henrico are subdivision streets. So, most of our miles are probably unpaved versus paved. But, all of the higher volume, higher traffic roads, those are pretty good. There's pretty good connectivity. The highways are pretty good. So give credit to VDOT for that. 

"We really don't have anything that can just take the full amount of ice all at one time.
We're slowly peeling it back."
- Terrell Hughes, Henrico Public Works director

Citizen: Can you say more about the special equipment Henrico Public Works department is using to break the ice?

Hughes: Typically, most of our fleet is actually dump trucks, but because this is ice, a lot of it is frozen solid. So for anyone who's shoveled their driveway, they'll see this is not standard fluffy snow that you can just shovel up and toss. This is thick ice and it's freezing hard together.

So we've actually had to use front end loaders, like a bulldozer, basically a big, big tractor with a big heavy bucket in the front. And then we've also had to use what we call motor graders. Those are typically used in road construction, but they've got a fixed plow that it's heavier than a dump truck, standard equipment. And that's able to scrape. And even then, we're having to scrape in layers.

We really don't have anything that can just take the full amount of ice all at one time. We're slowly peeling it back. So whenever we do get into a road or a subdivision route, we're using that heavy equipment, which under normal circumstances is generally reserved for some of the bigger roads where we have to plow if you have a bigger storm, you have multiple lanes. That's really what the motor graders were initially intended for.

But because we have ice, that's essentially what we're what we're using across the county, and we just don't have as much of that equipment as we do dump trucks. The majority of our fleet is dump trucks. And, when we're not able to use those in the subdivisions, it slows down our response.

Citizen: A reader commented in a Citizen snow removal update article yesterday that they saw the Deep Run Park parking lot had been cleared. Is the Recreation and Parks Department doing that?

Hughes: Yes, it'd be Rec and Parks staff. That parking lot was cleared because Deep Run Recreation Center was designated as a warming center. Fortunately the power did not go out so we did not have to use it. Public Work's focus is on clearing the 3,500 miles of Henrico County roads.

Citizen: So, is Recreation and Parks snow plowing separately from Public Works efforts?

Hughes: Yes. We have our Department of General Services, which is responsible for clearing the Government Center. Warming stations are at the library. They would have cleared those parking lots, and our Rec and Parks teams would be focused on the parks. Rec and Parks have helped.

For example, our fire stations, the Rec and Parks crews were focused on clearing the fire stations so that the fire trucks, EMTs and ambulances can respond to events. So, they're keeping a lot of those fire station ramps open, as well as Department of General Services.

Citizen: Henrico County Public Schools are continuing to be canceled. Is it your department that clears school parking lots? Do you have any insight into school parking lots status, being cleared and when they might reopen?

Hughes: That would be through with schools. So, I have no insight to offer on that. Public Works clears the roads in front of the schools, and that's the extent of our purview.

Citizen: What's your message to people in subdivisions whose roads have not been cleared yet?

Hughes: If you can stay home, stay home. I appreciate people's patience. We're working as hard as we can. This is a little bit different than a snow event. We're dealing with ice. So it is taking longer. I appreciate people's patience with that. We do recognize there's a forecast for additional snow over the weekend. We are mindful of that and we're trying to do what we can do, and also get ready for that next event. We're getting a lot of calls as well and emails. We're hearing from people, so we understand. We're working as fast as we can. We are dealing with ice.

Citizen: How are you getting ready for the next predicted snowstorm? Are you already treating the roads again or going to do that?

Hughes: No, we'll have our staffing ready. We'll have our equipment. We're keeping everybody working. We're running two, 12-hour shifts, 24 hours, and, we've called in every piece of equipment we have. We've even brought in some additional contractors. We're active. Ready on this response. I's just been a slow go dealing with the ice. 

Citizen: How are your employees doing with those long hours?

Hughes: We're trying to take care of them. We really appreciate everybody's efforts. We have some of the best here in Henrico. Our staff is very devoted. And they take a lot of pride in what they do. That motivation is helping them get through.

(This Q&A has been edited for clarity.)

Dina Weinstein is the Citizen’s community vitality reporter and a Report for America corps member, covering housing, health and transportation. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.