December 16, 2010

Most Charlottesville streets were covered with a slick layer of snow by 11am Thursday morning, and the snow continues to fall. "It's slick out there now," said Craig Travis, "and it's gonna get nothing but slicker as the day continues."

Charlottesville Public Works crews spent the morning hours salting roads and will begin plowing once the snow accumulation is enough to not cause damage to plows or streets. That threshold is 2" of snow.

"We got the salt down and that's the key. The salt forms a brine on the bottom with the road and so its easier to plow," said Judy Mueller, of Public Works.

Once the 2" of snow has fallen, crews will begin plowing primary roads and will move on to secondary roads/neighborhoods after the main roads are cleared.

Mueller says they're also working behind the scenes to keep the roads safe. "We're able to sit in operations center and see how many streets have been plowed, where they've been and when were they there."

Like Public Works crews, Charlottesville drivers are remembering lessons learned in last winter's strong storms. While Thursday's snowfall will be much milder than what we had this time last year, drivers are still traveling with caution and Public Works is still working around the clock to keep the roads passable.

City closings and cancellations:

- City trash and recycling service was canceled. All service that was not completed Thursday will be completed Friday.

- City Hall remains open.

- City Schools are closed.

- City recreation classes canceled.