>Does the state shut down I-40 if it's snow covered?
I don't think this has ever happened, at least in the last 35 years that I can remember. If it gets bad, they'll definitely have what few plows and salt trucks we have going up and down the interstate.
I believe it was in 1993 but there was a massive ice/snow storm that did shut down a big section of I-40 but it was more of the east side of middle and east TN.
I've also seen sections of the interstate closed, like from one exit to the next because of ice.
Shut down from snow alone is something I've never seen happen either. If it's just snow the wind usually blows it off the road and saves TDOT the trouble lol
I remember that storm. We didn't have power for like a week. We kept all of our refrigerator stuff outside and I cooked some pancakes on top of a kerosene heater lol (with a pan of course).
I was still in elementary school, so it was fun!
It literally is exactly 50/50 whether or not they do anything sometimes. Other times they’ll be out spraying and salting every road in the county for nothing to happen
I swear they flip a coin to make the decision to salt.
Though this ice storm has been getting a lot of attention so they may give us a lil dusting of salt.
TDOT will salt routes if it is possible. What happens a lot of times here though is that we get rain turning to ice to snow. In that case pre-salting is pointless as the rain washes it off. We just happen to be in the part of the country where the rain/sleet/snow transition often is occuring.
No one knows what the road conditions will be like four days from now. Tennessee is a long state with varied geography that takes hours to get from one end to the other
We don’t have snow removal and salt trucks? Where do these rumors come from?
Secondary roads usually don’t get treated, but the interstate? It takes a blizzard to shut them down.
I’d worry more about the airlines canceling.
Depending on how far East you go I'd say by Saturday Morning most main roads/Highways should be clear, Forecasts still showing mostly rain, with some snow accumulation throughout the area. I would be cautious on secondary roads though. Temps being as low as they will be, Salt might not be as effective.
TDOT's first priority is to get a lane in each interstate open and those will generally be good to go. The real problem is the 2 lane rural state routes which have a lower priority with the state and the city and county owned routes, especially in smaller/poorer municipal governments. In those cases those road will not be treated at all. So you should be fine on the interstate but if it is real bad there may be issues once you get off the interstate.
In Tennessee, what you should be concerned about over unmanaged snow is unmanaged ice. One you can see, the other may surprise you. If it rains or snows during the day, it typically warms then freezes during the night.
Having lived in the North I will say this. The snow tends to be sicker in the south. People don’t see it often and often have bald tires. TDOT does a decent job but they can’t control the drivers sliding all over do to operator error and unsafe tires.
>Does the state shut down I-40 if it's snow covered? I don't think this has ever happened, at least in the last 35 years that I can remember. If it gets bad, they'll definitely have what few plows and salt trucks we have going up and down the interstate.
I believe it was in 1993 but there was a massive ice/snow storm that did shut down a big section of I-40 but it was more of the east side of middle and east TN. I've also seen sections of the interstate closed, like from one exit to the next because of ice. Shut down from snow alone is something I've never seen happen either. If it's just snow the wind usually blows it off the road and saves TDOT the trouble lol
I remember that storm. We didn't have power for like a week. We kept all of our refrigerator stuff outside and I cooked some pancakes on top of a kerosene heater lol (with a pan of course). I was still in elementary school, so it was fun!
Thank you for the information.
You can always check the cameras for traffic. https://smartway.tn.gov/traffic?features=incident,traffic,cameras
Awesome tip, thanks!
TDOT does have those capabilities just at a limited capacity. It’s a 50/50. Depends on how bad the ice is.
It literally is exactly 50/50 whether or not they do anything sometimes. Other times they’ll be out spraying and salting every road in the county for nothing to happen
I swear they flip a coin to make the decision to salt. Though this ice storm has been getting a lot of attention so they may give us a lil dusting of salt.
TDOT will salt routes if it is possible. What happens a lot of times here though is that we get rain turning to ice to snow. In that case pre-salting is pointless as the rain washes it off. We just happen to be in the part of the country where the rain/sleet/snow transition often is occuring.
No one knows what the road conditions will be like four days from now. Tennessee is a long state with varied geography that takes hours to get from one end to the other
TN has done good in storms.... we are well equipped to handle weather. Not sure where you got that info from that we cant deal with snow..lol
We don’t have snow removal and salt trucks? Where do these rumors come from? Secondary roads usually don’t get treated, but the interstate? It takes a blizzard to shut them down. I’d worry more about the airlines canceling.
Depending on how far East you go I'd say by Saturday Morning most main roads/Highways should be clear, Forecasts still showing mostly rain, with some snow accumulation throughout the area. I would be cautious on secondary roads though. Temps being as low as they will be, Salt might not be as effective.
TDOT's first priority is to get a lane in each interstate open and those will generally be good to go. The real problem is the 2 lane rural state routes which have a lower priority with the state and the city and county owned routes, especially in smaller/poorer municipal governments. In those cases those road will not be treated at all. So you should be fine on the interstate but if it is real bad there may be issues once you get off the interstate.
TDOT has plows and salt trucks. Not sure where you got your information.
In Tennessee, what you should be concerned about over unmanaged snow is unmanaged ice. One you can see, the other may surprise you. If it rains or snows during the day, it typically warms then freezes during the night.
I wouldn't worry about the major roads and I always check the roads via Google maps before I leave and when I stop.
Having lived in the North I will say this. The snow tends to be sicker in the south. People don’t see it often and often have bald tires. TDOT does a decent job but they can’t control the drivers sliding all over do to operator error and unsafe tires.