Officials update road conditions as second round of snow begins

JACKSON, Tenn. — Nichole Lawrence with the Tennessee Department of Transportation gave a quick list of roads on Wednesday that TDOT will be focusing on as the next line of snow comes through West Tennessee.

“Whether that’s 412, 45, US-70, different routes like that are some that we are still working on,” Lawrence said.

Conditions on those roads will likely worsen over the next couple days with snow forecast through the rest of Wednesday night and into Thursday morning.

WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News reporter Clint Eiland went to Carroll County today, where many side roads were still covered in snow.

In Madison County and Jackson, highway and street officials say they’re seeing the same thing. Side roads are also expected to become more challenging over the next few days.

“With this next round coming, it is going to just freeze on top of what is frozen already,” Lawrence said.

“It’s getting more difficult to get them clear because the snow is turning to ice. Which makes it a little more treacherous, and makes it more difficult to clear off,” Madison County Highway Superintendent Bart Walls said.

TDOT will continue to work almost nonstop over the next 36 hours to make sure the snowfall doesn’t impact the main roads too much.

And both the Madison County Highway Department and the Jackson Street Department have similar plans.

“24/7. When the snow gets here, they’re already out. They’ll be plowing and salting while the storm is here,” said Percy Jones with the Jackson Street Department.

“We’re also kind of in the wait-and-see mode to see how much accumulation do we actually get,” Walls siad.

Both departments are focused on the main roads in the city and county, and the Jackson Street Department is trying to plow some residential neighborhoods with hills.

The good news is that a lot of the main roads throughout West Tennessee were relatively clear Wednesday morning, and the hope is that road crews can keep it that way.

“I think the temperatures will be a little bit higher, and that will work to our advantage, because we will be able to provide a layer of our salt brine and salt and plow those areas as well as we can,” Lawrence said.

As a reminder, just because a road looks clear of snow, doesn’t mean it’s clear of ice. It also doesn’t mean the road will stay that way.

This newest snowfall is almost certainly going to cover some of those roads this video that were clear earlier today.

And just because the road was clear earlier, doesn’t mean it will stay clear as the as the snow and wintry mix continues to fall.

If you don’t have to leave your house, stay inside.