Slippery Holiday Travel for some

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Motorists on some of the state’s busiest roads for holiday travel may find them snow covered and slippery Wednesday as an Atlantic Coast snow storm moves over parts of West Virginia.

Weather forecasters said Tuesday part of U.S. Route 19 from Sutton to Beckley could get a few inches of snow. Interstate 68 from Morgantown through Preston County to the Maryland state line could also be slippery. Interstate 81 in the eastern panhandle is also forecasted to be in the path of the storm.

State Division of Highways spokesman Brent Walker said snow removal crews would be ready.

DOH crews were putting brine down Tuesday afternoon in hopes of keeping snow off some of the most-traveled roads. Other crews were putting chains on DOH plows and salt trucks.

Walker said increased holiday traffic could play a role.

“The more traffic that you have there the more difficult it is. You always have vehicles that want to go ahead and pass the plow when it makes a lot of sense to stay behind it,” he said.

Interstate 64 between Huntington and Charleston is expected to be mostly wet and not many problems are anticipated for Interstate 77 between Charleston and Parkersburg. The higher elevations on Interstate 79 could be snow-covered and there also may be snow on the most southern end of the West Virginia Turnpike and Interstate 64 from Beckley to Lewisburg.

Walker said DOH crews would work through Thanksgiving if necessary.

“This is what our guys do and they certainly don’t get enough credit for doing that and anybody that’s had to leave their family during a nice holiday they know what we’re talking about,” Walker said.

The snow is expected to arrive early Wednesday morning and stay around through the early afternoon hours.