Digging out to take days

It may be midweek before residential streets in Northern Virginia are plowed clear, and that timetable could be disrupted if there is another snowfall Tuesday.

"Monday is not going to be a get-to-work day," said Joan Morris of the Virginia Department of Transportation. "It's going to be the better part of next week before we finish with the subdivisions. I can see it being Wednesday or Thursday."

If the forecast of more snowfall on Tuesday holds true, plowing of Virginia subdivisions from the big storm could take longer. "If we get more on Tuesday, all the equipment gets pulled out of the subdivisions back into the major highways," Morris said.

"Today we're doing nothing but pounding away at the interstates until the snow stops," she said. "With the snow still falling it's just going to continue to be a problem."
Morris reported that the interstate highways in Northern Virginia were passable Saturday.

"But only a serious four-wheel driver or, of course, emergency vehicles can get through," she said. "No one else has any business being out there." Morris said the major roadways were snow-covered and "it's easy to get stuck out there."

Morris said that between midday Friday and 6 a.m. Saturday, 98 crashes were reported on Northern Virginia roadways and 238 stranded motorists were rescued.
-- Ashley Halsey III