WASHINGTON — It can be聽tough for salt and plow trucks聽to navigate narrow neighborhood streets. Highway crews want聽cars聽parked in聽driveways if possible. Otherwise drivers should pay attention to where they park.
“Park on the odd numbered side of the street. That is going to allow our plows plenty of room to pass,” says Virginia Department of Transportation Spokeswoman Joan Morris.
Also, to avoid聽shoveling a sidewalk cut through or聽end of聽a driveway twice –聽wait to shovel until after snow plows come through.
“Nothing is more frustrating than shoveling your driveway and having the plow push all the snow right back into it,” says Morris.
In addition to waiting, Morris recommends shoveling driveways to the right as you鈥檙e facing the road.
Where are the plows?
Once a few inches of snow has fallen homeowners can tell where Virginia snowplows are by checking online and plugging in their address.
“It’s a terrific tool,” Morris says.
聽updates every few minutes revealing聽at least three things in addition to showing truck routes and road cameras:
- Whether plows are working in your neighborhood
- 聽Whether plows聽have聽finished your neighborhood
- 聽Whether plows have not started your neighborhood yet
During snow events Morris says VDOT used to get as many as 30,000 calls from people curious about road status. The number of those calls has been cut dramatically now that聽people can observe some of the same information VDOT supervisors monitor online.
“People don’t have to hang on the phone waiting for VDOT,”聽Morris says.
Snow plow information for other areas:
- D.C. :聽.
