KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — As crews keep working to make clear the road, officials are still asking the public to stay off the road if possible on Wednesday.
Although snow may no longer be on the roads, they are still extremely slick. There are also still plenty of backroads that have not yet been treated or plowed.
TDOT Community Relations Officer Mark Nagi said interstates are looking good and that crews will be working on secondary routes on Wednesday.
"There are still going to be spots where you have some black ice or some standing snow," Nagi said. "It's just night and day compared to what we saw on Monday. It's just testimony to what our crews have been doing."
We would like to know how the roads are in your area. We've made a survey you can fill out regarding road conditions near you.
You can take the survey here or you can fill it out below.
As of Thursday, many survey results said most of the city roads in Knoxville looked mostly good outside of neighborhood roads and back roads. A lot of the roads that are usually covered in shade most of the day in the eastern outlying portions of the city and Knox County, including Millertown Pike and Washington Pike, still had plenty of packed snow covering the road.
Deeper into Knox County, many roads were still very icy and snowy according to people who responded, including Halls. Most back roads and areas under a lot of tree cover also saw snow lingering on the roads.
In Roane County, people said roads were generally snow-covered and tough to travel on, including U.S. Highway 70 and Gallaher Road.
A lot of answers included frustrations at not being able to travel to work and streets not being plowed yet.
"Our neighborhood hasn’t been plowed (understandable) but also isn’t even on the city’s plan TO be plowed. We have a number of vehicles stranded at the front of the subdivision that couldn’t make it back up the hill at the entrance and other neighbors who have been stranded at work because they can’t make it home due to the road conditions here. We are within city limits and pay city taxes so should at least be on the schedule for plowing," one surveyor said.
"There's 9.5 inches of snow covering my road and driveway but work is asking me to come in to cover for all of the callouts," another surveyor said.
Knox County Engineering and Public Work's Chief Engineer Jim Snowden said that in Knoxville, all public streets will be plowed eventually.
Snowden said Knox County mains about 2,000 miles with 24 snow plows, so it's a priority system. He's been with Knox County for 25 years and said this was one of the worst snows he's ever seen.
Main roads, like Ebenezer, will have priority. Secondary roads, like George Williams to West Valley Middle, will be plowed after main roads, according to Snowden.
Bigger residential areas will be plowed last. Snowden said crews are expecting to transition to more residential areas Wednesday night or Thursday.
If you live in the county, you can submit requests by calling 865-215-5800.
In Knoxville city limits, roads are ranked as Level I, Level II or Level III. Level I roads are the busiest ones or ones that serve as emergency and hospital routes. Level II roads are the ones that connect to main streets or ones that are hilly. Level III roads are everything else—back roads and smaller neighborhood roads.
The city keeps a snow plan at this link that lists dozens of roads across the city and what priority they get when it comes to plowing and brine/salt trucks.
Oak Ridge officials say cleanup has been difficult. Roads that have already been plowed and salted are still in rough shape, thanks to snow and freezing rain.
"Typically, the salt will melt down what is left behind after it's plowed. With how cold it is outside, the salt is not effective. It needs to be at least about 15 degrees for the salt to begin melting ice," the City of Oak Ridge Government said on Facebook.
Oak Ridge crews have been plowing and working 24/7 since Sunday, according to officials.
You can check current conditions on I-40, I-75, I-640, and other major roads below or on TDOT SmartWay: