200 crashes in Cobb since snowfall; black ice still a major worry

Safety Tips for Driving on Black Ice and Slippery Conditions

Cobb County spokesman Ross Cavitt said Wednesday there have been about 200 traffic accidents in the 24 hours since snowfall. Of those, 10 were hit-and-runs.

Cavitt said there have also been 180 road hazard calls and 15 reports of stranded motorists.

But the worst may be forthcoming.

Bill Shelton, Cobb’s head of road maintenance, said at 4 p.m. that his crews were regrouping before going back out to battle black ice all night.

He said he was “extremely” concerned about black ice forming overnight as the county refreezes.

Shelton said his team will use salt and gravel to do battle with slick surfaces.

READ Marietta superintendent explains what's going on with weather days

He said at noon that they’d already used 300 tons of salt and 1,200 tons of gravel.

The county government announced that it has delayed operations until 10 a.m. in hopes of giving Shelton's road crews enough time. Cobb and Marietta schools have already canceled classes for Thursday.

CobbLinc will resume, except Express routes, at noon Thursday after suspending service because of the snow.

Shelton said they put down 3,400 gallons of brine before the snow started.

Still, packed snow and ice has caused trouble for drivers.

Like police, the road crews of Cobb County have already had a long day and night, but they’re nowhere near done.

READHow much snow fell in your metro Atlanta neighborhood?

The National Weather Service got a report about 12:15 p.m. that there was an inch of snow in Smyrna.

Scott Stokes, Smyrna’s public works director, said his crews started putting brine down on the city’s bridges and major intersections at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

He plans on throwing a sand mix down on the roads into the day Thursday.

As of 2 p.m. Wednesday, Stokes’ crews had applied 800 gallons of brine and 278 tons of sand mix.

On the other side of the county, the NWS reported at 11 a.m. Wednesday that a spot near Kennesaw experienced 1½ inches of snow.

That’s over the last 24 hours, which have left metro Atlanta glazed with fresh ice.

Kennesaw’s public works director Ricky Stewart said his team put out about 1,500 gallons of brine and 80 tons of salt mix.

READWhat are the coldest days in the history of Cobb County?

All of the main streets are clear, he said, but secondary and neighborhood streets should still be driven with caution.

They had four crews out today and plan to run two more tonight, he said.

Even though classes at Kennesaw State University have been canceled Thursday, as they were Wednesday, the school's basketball team will still play Stetson University.

Yes, the show will go on inside the KSU Convocation Center at 7 p.m. (Here's to hoping they are snow owls.)

Also in far West Cobb, Acworth police warned drivers to stay home as roads "remain covered with a coating of snow and ice."

And because of that, Acworth’s administrative offices will remain closed for the day.

Also, CobbLinc will not be running amid an iced-over metro Atlanta.

The county announced it suspended its bus service as “deteriorating road conditions across Cobb County” would prevent them from running routes.

Andrea Foard, Cobb’s transit division manager, said they’ll evaluate conditions throughout the day to determine when the system can safely resume.

At Dobbins Air Reserve Base, they reported 1.2 inches to the NWS.

READHere are the 7 snowiest days in the history of Cobb County

Ross Cavitt, Cobb spokesman, said earlier that the county ran 11 spreader trucks all night to treat routes along with four F-250 spreader trucks treating fire stations and police precincts so they can respond.

At 8:40 a.m, Marietta police said they’d worked 15 wrecks since 6 a.m., including two rollovers — one on I-75 at the Sandy Plains Exit and another on Franklin Gateway.

Cobb chairman Mike Boyce has also postponed two town hall meetings scheduled today at the North Cobb and West Cobb senior centers. They'll be consolidated into one town hall held at the West Cobb Senior Center on Friday at 2 p.m.

Keep up with our running coverage of the weather here and watch WSB's broadcast here.

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