By Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder
With the six inches of snow in Lexington and Buena Vista yesterday came multiple closures, wrecks and delays.
Two car accidents were reported on I-81 yesterday. No injuries were reported. One accident at mile marker 172.7 in Botetourt County left cars backed up for four hours. The other accident was in Rockbridge County at mile marker 203. Traffic was backed up for two hours.
Schools and universities experienced delays and closures. Lexington city schools closed two hours early yesterday and had a two hour delay today. Buena Vista city public schools and Rockbridge County public schools closed yesterday and remain closed today.
Washington and Lee University had a 1:30 p.m. early closure. Virginia Military Institute’s administrative offices had a one-hour delay today, but normal class schedule is in effect. Staff and students did not experience any closures or early dismissals yesterday.
Dominion Power, the largest source of power and energy in Rockbridge County, currently reports no outages.
Since November, but not including yesterday’s snowfall, 180 tons of salt have been spread over Lexington. According to Mike Kennedy, the director of Lexington’s Public Works, that is a normal amount.
Lexington’s budget for inclement weather is $81,000. This includes costs for snow removal and road and sidewalk deicing and clearing. About $61,000 of the budget has been spent, not counting the price of yesterday’s snow removal.
According to Kennedy, the two storms in February used up most of the budget. Kennedy said the storms cost about $40,000 because one was on President’s Day, a holiday, and the other was on the weekend. Workers had to be paid for overtime.