Winter Wonderland Woes: Navigating Shenandoah Valley’s Fresh Snow Travel Trials

STAUNTON – Further snowfall occurred Friday night and during the early hours of Saturday across the Shenandoah Valley and Alleghany Highlands. This has resulted in treacherous conditions on various roadways, including interstates and major routes, as noted in a press announcement from the Virginia Department of Transportation‘s Staunton District.

VDOT recommends that drivers postpone travel until later in the day or Sunday, when roads might improve due to snow-clearing efforts, sunlight, and increased temperatures. Certain local streets and other secondary routes still have icy spots leftover from the prior winter storm. The fresh snowfall may conceal these spots, necessitating extreme caution from drivers.

VDOT teams are continuously working to clear and treat roadways where necessary, initially concentrating on interstates and primary routes, as stated in the press release.

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Road conditions according to Virginia Department of Transportation

Here are the road conditions as of 5:45 a.m. Saturday in the VDOT Staunton District:

Interstate 64 – Minor conditions in Alleghany, Rockbridge, and Augusta counties.

Interstate 66 – Minor conditions in Warren County.

Interstate 81 – Minor conditions in Rockbridge, Augusta, Rockingham, Shenandoah, and Frederick counties.

Primary roads – Moderate conditions in Alleghany County. Minor conditions in Bath, Rockbridge, Highland, Augusta, Rockingham, Page, Shenandoah, Frederick, Clarke, and Warren counties.

Secondary roads – Moderate conditions in Alleghany, Bath, and Rockbridge counties. Minor conditions in Highland, Augusta, Rockingham, Page, Shenandoah, Frederick, Clarke, and Warren counties.

VDOT manages snow removal on all state-maintained roads as follows: 

• The Interstate Highway System and limited-access highways are VDOT’s top priority.
• Primary roads (routes numbered 1 to 599) and significant secondary routes (numbered 600 and above) with essential emergency and public facilities, or those with high traffic volumes, will be cleared in conjunction with interstate and limited-access roads as resources permit.
• Lower-volume secondary roads and subdivision streets will be treated once higher-priority routes are completed and further resources are accessible.

For road information, visit 511 at its updated URL and website: https://511.vdot.virginia.gov/.

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