McAuliffe on WTOP: Stay off the roads

WASHINGTON – Virginia’s governor is asking drivers to make way for snow-fighting equipment so the Commonwealth can battle what’s likely major snowstorm.

“Please stay off the roads,” Gov.Terry McAuliffe told WTOP.

“We want to have every artery open and moving in 48 hours. That is our goal,” he added.

As of late Wednesday afternoon, 12,000 pieces of snow equipment were already on the move, including 4,000 in Northern Virginia alone.

McAuliffe declared a state of emergency Tuesday, and has since been in touch with various agencies.

“We’re coordinating our response actions with the Virginia State Police as well as the National Guard. (There are) over 300 National Guard troops we have mobilized.”

He’s also been in touch with Dominion Virginia Power, which he says is “ready” with extra trucks to help with outages.

McAuliffe was asked if the Commonwealth has enough road salt to handle the storm.

“We thought ahead and brought in more salt here so that we are prepared. We’ve got hundreds of thousands of tons of what we need on the salt. We use about 5,000 tons a day,” he said.

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