AHTD: Sunshine helps icy roads thaw after overnight storm

Sparse traffic moves through the intersection of Fourth and Cumberland streets in downtown Little Rock on Thursday afternoon.
Sparse traffic moves through the intersection of Fourth and Cumberland streets in downtown Little Rock on Thursday afternoon.

1:15 p.m. update:

Beaming sunshine has helped Arkansas Department of Highways and Transportation workers improve driving conditions around the state.

“The sunshine is really helping out this afternoon. We expect to continue to get good results,” Arkansas Department of Highways and Transportation spokesman Danny Straessle said. “The sun is a key component to the day as it continues.”

Straessle said the highway department has about 780 trucks and “about 1,000 employees working today” to improve roads.

“The interstate system in Northwest Arkansas and the metro area is in pretty good shape. Traffic is starting to get where it needs to go.”

While traffic is moving smoothly in most areas, jackknifed trucks have caused problems for some motorists.

“Our challenge last night and today has been I-40 in east Arkansas,” he said. “There were several jackknifed trucks that caused a lot of problems overnight, and some of the truckers ended spending the night on the interstate.”

Bill Sadler, Arkansas State Police spokesman, said there hasn’t been severe accidents aside from jackknifed trucks and vehicles sliding off roads.

There’s been “scattered incidents of jackknifed commercial carrier trucks, and Sedans and pick-up trucks that are sliding off the highway,” Sadler said. “Slide-offs are the most significant number of problems along the interstate right now, followed by jackknifed trucks.”

No signifiant injuries have been reported, he said.

Towing companies are working to clear slide-off vehicles from roadways.

“They are moving the vehicles that may block traffic for a short period of time,” Sadler said. “These temporary blockages are covering an area near the interchange of U.S. 70 and I-30 and going back east toward Bryant. These are scattered across on both sides of the interstate, east and west.”

City of Little Rock spokesman Luis Gonzalez said public works employees started working 12-hour rotating shifts at 5 p.m. on Wednesday to start clearing streets of snow and ice.

"Crews continued to work through the night clearing the city's primary snow routes," Gonzalez said. "Once the primary snow routes are deemed safe, crews will then move to secondary and residential streets."

The 12-hour rotating shifts will continue until all of the roads are clear, he said.

Earlier:

Arkansas roads are treacherous Thursday from heavy sleet and snow overnight.

A cold front came slower into Arkansas than expected Wednesday, bringing rain followed by heavy snow, sleet and gusty winds. At least one Arkansan died in a traffic accident.

Snow continued to fall Thursday morning before dawn and was forecast to taper off around sunrise. A National Weather Service winter storm warning lasted until 6 a.m. Thursday for roughly the southeast two-thirds of the state. Forecasters said the overnight storm dropped up to 6 inches of sleet and snow across central Arkansas and more than 8 inches in the northeast part of the state.

The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department’s iDriveArkansas.com website showed most roads in the northwest half of the state, including central Arkansas, covered in snow, with most others farther south covered in ice or ice patches.

A multiple-car accident has temporarily blocked Interstate 30 between mile markers 117 and 118 eastbound in Saline County, Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said.

Sadler said there are police units on the scene and there may be some injuries.

Central Arkansas Transit Authority canceled its Links Paratransit, River Rail and bus services at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday.

"Operations employees will check all routes starting at 3 a.m. [Friday], and a determination of service impacts will be made by 4:30 a.m.," Donna Bowers, assistant director of operations for CATA said in an email.

Temperatures are expected to drop Friday into the single digits in northeast Arkansas. Western and southern Arkansas should be in the mid-teens. Forecasters say the state should be above freezing by Saturday afternoon.

Entergy Arkansas reported at 11:45 a.m. that 1,519 customers were without power, most of those in Crittenden County. Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas said it had no major power failures.

Scores of schools across the state called off Thursday classes, and Arkansas state offices closed for non-essential staff members in the Little Rock metropolitan area. The Bill and Hillary National Airport in Little Rock said airlines had canceled 19 flights for Thursday but that the airport is still open and operational. The Central Arkansas Transit Authority suspended bus, links and River Rail service until conditions improve.

Find a full list of school and office closings here.

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This map from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department's iDriveArkansas.com site Thursday, March 5, 2015, shows all of the state's main roads covered in some form of snow or ice.

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Very few drivers were out on University Avenue in Little Rock about 6:15 a.m. Thursday, March 5, 2015.

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A car spins out early while trying to drive through snow Thursday morning, March 5, 2015, on West 10th Street in Little Rock.

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A MEMS truck traverses JFK Boulevard in North Little Rock on Thursday, March 5, 2015.

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Snow and slush covers JFK Boulevard in North Little Rock's Park Hill neighborhood Thursday, March 5, 2015.

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A police car passes along JFK Boulevard in North Little Rock on Thursday, March 5, 2015.

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Eastbound Interstate 630 remains covered in snow Thursday morning, March 6, 2015.

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Traffic head west on a snow- and ice-covered I-630 in Little Rock on Thursday, March 5, 2015.

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A customer pulls in Thursday, March 5, 2015, to the Starbucks on Broadway Street in Little Rock, which is open despite winter weather conditions.

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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry puts in an ear piece for translation during a news conference with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Thursday, March 5, 2015, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Kerry sought Thursday to ease Gulf Arab concerns about an emerging nuclear deal with Iran and explore ways to calm instability in Yemen and other troubled nations in the Middle East.

Information for this article was contributed by The Associated Press.

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