Crime & Safety

Roads Treacherous During Storm

Especially slippery snow, shortage of road salt confounding drivers Tuesday.

Heavy snow is affecting travel in Rhode Island as yet another winter storm blows through.

Motorists across Rhode Island are slipping and sliding in the poor conditions Tuesday afternoon.

The fast-moving storm is supposed to finish up with rain this evening, but the worst of the snow is going to last until the start of the evening commute.

Making conditions worse is a shortage of road salt. State officials said there's not much left and after this storm, the supply could be depleted. Crews have been using less salt in an effort to preserve reserves, but that appears to be making conditions even more treacherous, with major highways covered.

The National Weather Service is forecasting clearing by 8 p.m. but rain is likely tomorrow. With a daytime high of 43 degrees, the combination has local officials bracing themselves for potential street flooding.

In Cranston, the slippery conditions has slowed traffic to a near-standstill in some areas. At Sockanosset Cross Road near Garden City Center, a pair of RIPTA buses struggled to get traction. Multiple drivers had to abandon efforts to get up the hill to New London Avenue, forcing them to reverse with hazards on as a police cruiser parked nearby.

Melissa Northup Medeiros in Newport said she has all wheel drive and doesn't usually have a problem.

"I went out during my lunch hour and I was slippin' a bit!" she said.

Carolyn Urban said the plows are just barely getting to the streets. Aquidneck Avenue is a "sheet of ice."

Conditions are reportedly poor on Route 1 in South County, along Route 146 and portions of Interstate 95 as well, especially on onramps and offramps. 

How are the conditions near you? 


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