Salt Trucks Battle Frozen Roads
There still are still plenty of slick spots, but roads across Metro Detroit are getting better two days after a winter storm blanketed the area with four to seven inches of snow. Several accidents were reported Tuesday morning.
The low temperatures overnight has rendered salt ineffective, but the Road Commission for Oakland County is hoping to make progress with its full fleet of trucks. The focus will be on freeways and main roads, however graders will be working on gravel roads.
Wayne County road crews were back on the roads around 4 a.m. Tuesday in hopes of clearing streets.
School officials tell WWJ some local students who arrived late Tuesday morning won't be marked tardy. School buses in the Plymouth-Canton and Livonia school districts were running late because of the slick roads.
Plymouth Canton put out an alert to parents saying buses were going to be late, but some parents say they never saw the bus.
A long line of cars was at Buchanon Elementary in Livonia as parents drove students to school. Both districts were closed Monday, but decided to stay open Tuesday. The spokesperson for Plymouth Canton, Frank Ruggierello, says the district did receive some calls from disgruntled parents, but he said if schools were closed for the day they also would've taken calls questioning why schools were closed.
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Meantime, things are even worse for folks to the east. Residents in the thumb are dealing with 14-foot snow drifts. The National Weather Service says between 18 and 22 inches of snow is on the ground near Harbor Beach and Port Hope -- but 50 miles-per hour-wind gusts created the massive drifts.
Here's the WWJ-AccuWeather forecast for Metro Detroit:
Tuesday: Windy and quite cold with times of clouds and sun. High 20, but the AccuWeather Real Feel temperature will be no higher than the single digits. Patchy clouds, brisk and very cold
Tuesday night. Low 7 in many outlying areas and 14 downtown.
Wednesday: Partly sunny and cold. High 25.
Thursday: Clouds and some sun. High 29.
Friday: Brisk with times of clouds and sun; chance for flurries. High 31.
Saturday: Intervals of clouds and sun. High 27.
