Traffic ADVISORY
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Henderson County Maintenance crew has been battling widespread snow drifts since Friday afternoon.
Crews were facing drifts 3 to 5 ft. deep at multiple locations along “A” Snow Priority Routes. Plows would knock back the snow to allow traffic to pass only to return an hour later to find snow had drifted in again. Winds overnight were in the 10 to 15 mph range. The persistent drifts prompted Kentucky State Police to close roadways at a couple of locations.
Overnight KY 416 was closed from the 0 to 5 mile marker where several vehicles were stuck in large snow drifts. Abandoned vehicles kept plows from accessing this section during the night. A tow truck is on site this morning working with law enforcement and KYTC personnel to clear vehicles from the area so highway crews can attack the drifts. This is along KY 416 between US 41-Alternate and KY 283. Our crew on site hopes to have the vehicles cleared this morning to allow the use of heavy equipment to the on the drifts.
KY 283 has several large drifts. A contractor is using a large tractor to clear KY 283, then will move to KY 416 to assist this morning.
KY 266 was closed by drifts in the Corydon area. Once section reopened this morning. However, KY 266 remains blocked by drifts between Corydon and Smith Mills. A crew anticipates attacking this section sometime around mid-morning.
Highway crews were assisted by farmers at several locations where large drifts were an issue. Some of the farmers are part of a KYTC contract program where they are paid to assist highway crews with snow removal while others provided volunteer assistance.
Due to drifting snow overnight the Henderson crew did not make as much progress toward clearing “C” Snow Priority Routes as they would have liked. Once the drifts are cleared from a number of trouble spots they anticipate getting some help from the sun and lower wind speeds today.
During the overnight hours 3 highways in Graves County were blocked by 4 to 5 ft drifts. Those highways were reopened overnight with the use of heavy equipment.