FORESTVILLE, MD – Prince George’s County’s Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPW&T) announced at 11:00 AM today that 100 percent of the county's primary roadways and nearly fifty percent of residential roadways are passable, with bare pavement in some areas.   

With all county roadways passable, crews now are able to focus on making all residential roadways passable. 
 
County road crews have been assisting utility company responders, as well as fire and police personnel iby clearing roadways as requested to ensure emergency service responses. 

Crews have been in full deployment since 1:00 p.m. Friday, and will continue working 12-hour, round-the-clock shifts for as long as necessary to make more than 1,821 miles (5,000+ lane miles) of county-maintained roadways passable.          

Due to the magnitude of this snow event, DPW&T staff has been joined by crews and inspectors from other county agencies, including the departments of Environmental Services and Central Services, as well as the Prince George's County Board of Education and the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission, bringing the total number of vehicles up to more than 300 vehicles per shift.    

Although Governor Martin O-Malley and Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson declared a State-of-Emergency, which went into effect Friday, crews have been faced with a multitude of problems stemming from vehicles on roadways around which they had to manuver making plowing and salting difficult and more time consuming. 

   
To assist road crews in clearing roadways, citiznes and residents are requested to:

     Move abandoned vehicles from roadways

     Keep parked vehicles off roadways 

     Park only in driveways or other off-road locations

Park only on the EVEN-NUMBERED sides of streets if off-street parking is not available (This is very important in order to allow plows to clear residential roadways. Plows cannot maneuver around vehicles to clear roadways.  One side of the roadway must clear of vehicles for plow drivers to effectively perform snow and ice removal services.)

Do not dart in front of or between plow/salt trucks

Move to the side of a roadway to allow a plow/salt truck to do what it needs to do 

It also is important for single-family homeowners or renters and business proprietors to remember that they are responsible for:

     Removal of snow and/or ice from sidewalks abutting their homes or business establishments   

     Although not required, removal of snow from around fire hydrants is encouraged so fire crews can locate the hydrant in the event of a fire

Residents and citizens may contact the county’s Snow Information Center in the event of an emergency by calling 301.350.0500. Please stay on the line until; a customer service representative is available to answer your call.    

Command staff continue to work out of DPW&T’s TRIP Center located at 8414 D’Arcy Road, Forestville, MD.  In a snow event of this magnitude, folks are asked to please be PATIENT, do not drive unless absolutely necessary to do so, remove abandoned vehicles from roadways and park only on the EVEN-NUMBERED side of the street if off-street parking is not available.