The roads in Atlanta remain icy, and the great people that move goods around our country are struggling to get anywhere.
Much of the city of Atlanta has remained impassable Tuesday as a sadly outmatched contingent of plows and sand trucks failed to make much of a dent in the one-inch ice sheet that remained after the six-inch Sunday night snow that paralyzed much of the Deep South, and most notably its symbolic capital. The snow quickly turned into a treacherous driving experience, with hundreds of accidents reported. Even a salt truck spun out against a wall, blocking traffic.
Another Arctic cold front moving into the area nearly guaranteed that much of the city won't move until warmer weather arrives this weekend, pointing out, for many, the woeful inadequacy of storm response. Only eight plows were working the city's side streets and another 45 were trying – often vainly – to clear the one-inch layer of ice from the city's famously crowded interstates.
"This (storm) is a big traffic, travel, transportation problem," said Ken Davis, spokesman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency. "The ice has made travel extremely hazardous. There are countless areas of the state that are impassable."
In one example, parts of Interstate 285 that loops Atlanta were closed near Hartsfield-Jackson airport because dozens of tractor-trailer trucks are stuck, said Karlene Barron, spokeswoman for the state transportation agency. Some of the trucks had or have been stuck for 24 or ore hours. State officials have rerouted some of the 18-wheelers in order to keep the flow of traffic moving at a slow pace. As of late Tuesday afternoon, some of the lines of tractor-trailers and cars stuck on icy interstates in Atlanta as Georgia Department of Transportation have been cleared.
DOT crews are now struggling to reach trouble spots throughout metro Atlanta because of clogged traffic and treacherous roads. Veteran trucker Vernon Cook of Myrtle Beach, S.C., said Tuesday he was one of the trucks sitting still on the Interstate 285 ramp to I-75 south for almost 24 hours.
Cook and dozens of other trucks were eventually moved Tuesday afternoon by law enforcement after being stuck since Monday morning
Officials were particularly concerned about trucks stuck on I-285 underneath the airport's fifth runway.
DOT spokeswoman Jill Goldberg said crews are doing the best they can and frigid temperatures are causing areas that have been de-iced to freeze again. Some freezing rain is still falling in and around the Atlanta area. Schools and other businesses are expected to be closed again on Wednesday.