VDOT News - Staunton

STAUNTON – A major winter storm with snow, sleet and ice is forecasted for the Shenandoah Valley area on Sunday, January 16 and into the early morning hours of Monday, January 17. All travel should be avoided or delayed in the area during the storm. 

The region, including Interstate 81, has terrain with steep grades that can increase the hazardous nature of travel during a heavy snow and ice event. This is very true for truck traffic and it is important that trucks avoid the region, particularly I-81, on Sunday and into early Monday.

The Virginia Department of Transportation Staunton District crews pretreated roads on Friday, January 14. VDOT crews and contractors will be prepositioned on Sunday to begin plowing and treating roads as the weather begins. Wreckers have been staged and tree crews have been notified for deployment as needed.

VDOT has a variety of traveler resources including Welcome Centers and Safety Rest Areas located throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. Rest area locations can be found on the VDOT website at https://www.virginiadot.org/travel/map-rest-area.asp.

Road conditions and traffic cameras can be found on the VDOT 511 website at http://www.511Virginia.org, Roads with snow conditions will be marked minor, moderate, severe or closed.

Road condition definitions:

Closed – Road is closed to all traffic.

Severe – drifting or partially blocked road.

Moderate – snow or ice on major portions of the roadway. 

Minor – bare pavement except for isolated spots of snow, ice or slush.  Driving with caution is recommended.

For a text listing of winter weather road conditions go to http://www.511Virginia.org, look at the orange bar on the top of the page and click on “Text Views” and then click on “Road Condition Table”. Look at the pull down box that lists all jurisdictions.  In this box individual counties can be chosen to view.

On the go?  Then visit VDOT’s Free Virginia 511 Tools to get your 511 app for android or iOS. Traffic alerts and traveler information can be obtained by dialing 511.

The VDOT Customer Service Center can be accessed through its mobile friendly website at https://my.vdot.virginia.gov/. Agents are on site 24/7 every day of the year to assist the public. People can also call the VDOT Customer Service Center at 800-FOR- ROAD (800-367-7623).

The Staunton District Snow Page is on the VDOT website under Travel Center Snow Emergency Pages. The Staunton District Twitter feed is at @VaDOTStaunton.

VDOT statewide Twitter messages can be found at @VaDOT. The nine districts can be found at:Hampton Roads  @VaDOTHR; Richmond @VaDOTRVA; Northern Virginia @VaDOTNOVA;  Fredericksburg @VaDOTFred; Culpeper @VaDOTCulp; Lynchburg  @VaDOTLynchburg; Bristol @VaDOTBristol; Salem @VaDOTSalem; Staunton  @VaDOTStaunton.

VDOT can be followed on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube. RSS feeds are also available for statewide information. The VDOT Web page is located at http://www.VirginiaDOT.org.

The VDOT Staunton District serves Frederick, Shenandoah, Clarke, Warren, Page, Rockingham, Augusta, Highland, Rockbridge, Alleghany and Bath counties.

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Road condition definitions:

Severe – drifting or partially blocked road. 

Moderate – snow or ice on major portions of the roadway. 

Minor – bare pavement except for isolated spots of snow, ice or slush.  Driving with caution is recommended.

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