Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 28, 1994 TAG: 9401280189
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN and PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
But police said earlier experiences with bad weather this winter meant most motorists used caution as they drove to work and no serious accidents or injuries were reported.
The fender benders were so numerous that the state police had wreck calls backed up as many as eight at a time. They reported lots of property damage but no major injuries in the accidents.
"We had some we couldn't even get to," because the wrecks were on treacherous secondary roads, said Sgt. M.D. Dowdy.
Interstate 81 and adjacent roads as well as secondary roads south of Dublin in Pulaski County were the hardest hit, said Dowdy.
A stretch of U.S. 11 west of the Dublin underpass was blocked for about an hour by a number of cars that skidded into each other near the New River Community College entrance.
A truck that slid across Virginia 100 on Cloyds Mountain in Pulaski County blocked that road for about the same amount of time early Thursday.
About eight cars ran into ice on U.S. 11 atop Drapers Mountain outside Pulaski shortly before 7 a.m., skidding off the pavement and not being able to move until the ice began to thaw.
Dan Brugh, resident engineer of the Christiansburg office of the Department of Transportation, said his crews were out on the highways at 8 p.m. Wednesday in anticipation of the ice. The crews weren't able to help on the secondary roads, however, because the primaries and the interstate demanded all their attention, Brugh said.
The icy weather seemed to take everyone by surprise.
The morning ice was expected to be fleeting as temperatures warmed to the 40s during the day. Instead, the temperature hovered just below freezing in Montgomery County, making progress on roads - for highway crews and motorists - slow.
"Our weather station we've got out on [Interstate] 81 has stayed at 26 degrees and hasn't budged," Brugh said.
By 2 p.m., Pulaski and Giles counties were having warmer temperatures - as much as seven degrees difference, Brugh said.
But in Montgomery County, the weather stayed below freezing in most places throughout the day, and numerous wrecks were again reported as commuters headed home around 5 p.m.
In Blacksburg, Police Lt. Marty Hauschildt said the town had its share of accidents Thursday morning, but no major problems.
Many drivers found their cars helplessly drifting on the ice, but somehow avoiding catastrophe. One driver coming through Dublin early in the morning found himself behind four cars that skidded in four directions when the driver at the front of the line tried to brake. Luckily, all managed to avoid hitting one another.
Most schools in the New River Valley had announced a two-hour delayed start early Thursday, but as conditions grew worse, Radford and the counties of Montgomery, Pulaski, Giles and Floyd all closed for the day.
by CNB