Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development officials have been working tirelessly since before Tuesday’s historic snowfall to maintain and reopen roads across the state.
Rodney Mallet with DOTD says he doesn’t have a time frame for when any impacted or closed roads, including I-10, will officially reopen but noted that main thoroughfares like Florida Blvd. and Airline Highway have remained open throughout the entire storm.
“If you drive slow and you pay attention and take it easy, it can be done. The problem is not everybody is doing that,” Mallet said about driving during the icy conditions.
Mallet said the primary reasons that Airline Hwy. and Florida Blvd. are currently drivable is because crews plowed and salted those roads Tuesday night.
“It was great that they could concentrate on doing their jobs and not having to worry about somebody driving like a fool in this bad weather and running into them and hurting them,” Mallet said, noting the interstate is also being salted. Crews were working on I-10 near Essen earlier today according to a DOTD Facebook post.
Mallet said to visit 511.org to find out more information about closures.
Mallet also said that the current work to keep roads open wouldn’t have been possible without assistance from the state of Arkansas, who provided snow plows, personnel, and materials. It’s the first time he said Louisiana has probably had to borrow snow plows.
“We probably wouldn’t be in such a good situation right now without the teamwork between us. Our crews have been working 24 hours, 12 hour shifts since Saturday to keep these roads open and to keep travelers safe and to close the roads that were unsafe,” Mallet said.
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