Drivers push on in snowy conditions

LITTLE ROCK — Branden Henner usually sees about 25 coworkers when he arrives at his office in downtown Little Rock.

But on Monday, after a storm dropped a record 5.7 inches of snow in the city and more in points farther south, he was one of just two employees who braved the slick road conditions to make it in.

Henner, who said he didn't have any problems driving his Chevy Malibu on snow and slush-covered Interstates 630 and 430, was surprised by the low turnout.

"It really wasn't too bad," he said of his morning commute. "You just have to drive slow, be real careful and stay away from other cars if at all possible."

A number of drivers who stopped Monday at the Shell Station on Broadway Avenue in downtown agreed with Henner, saying the slick conditions were little match for a lighter foot on the gas pedal.

But elsewhere in Arkansas, it was a different story. Lori Simmons, a truck driver from Tennessee, was one of numerous motorists who spent the night stopped on Interstate 30 in Saline County. Snowy and icy conditions near Benton caused more than a dozen wrecks, snarling traffic and preventing plows from getting through.

Simmons, who with her husband was driving a load of fruits and vegetables from Arizona to Nashville, said the interstate was a densely packed combination of ice and snow. She said she hadn't seen conditions so bad since a trek from Idaho to Wyoming during which snow tires were required. Troopers stopped her truck around 7:30 p.m. near mile marker 100 and traffic didn't move again until after 9 a.m. Monday, Simmons said by phone.

Traffic was stopped again about 10 miles later and Simmons watched as cars near her turned around and exited from the onramp.

The whole ordeal was more than a little frustrating, she said.

"This is our job," she said. "It's not like we can say 'it's snowing, we can't go to work.' We have to be out here. It's not like we have the luxury of a day off. If we're not rolling, we're not getting paid. And we have families to feed and bills to pay."

The Arkansas Department of Highways and Transportation described I-30 as the biggest problem in the state. Arkansas National Guard soldiers were dispatched to various points along the highway to bring motorists water and fuel and to offer them shelter.

Traffic was light around downtown Little Rock Monday morning and conditions varied significantly from one street to another.

Major thoroughfares, like Broadway Avenue, were a mix of slush and packed snow that seemed to provide most motorists plenty of traction to get through. But other large streets had only tire tracks in the packed snow and some vehicles had a tough time getting through.

Cars were seen spinning their wheels trying to go up a small incline on south Chester Street near I-630. One driver appeared to have given up, leaving his car parked in the snow-covered median.

Joe Hurdle, who drove his wife to her job at Arkansas Children's Hospital from their Maumelle home, said he saw a few cars that had slid off the highway, but that he didn't have any problems driving slowly. He said he kept his front-wheel drive Toyota Camry under 30 mph.

Most motorists were doing the same, Hurdle said, but there were a few he estimated got up to 45 mph.

"That's really way too fast," he said. "I got passed and that's kind of nuts."

At least one motorist in downtown Little Rock thoroughly enjoyed navigating through the snow.

John Henry, a Little Rock man who normally drives a Chevy Caprice, was surveying the conditions in a large Kawasaki four-wheeler.

"It's just being in the open air," he said with a smile as he fueled it up at the downtown Shell Station. "I just ride and look at the snow."