VIRGINIA, USA — The Virginia Department of Transportation has confirmed that an independent, third-party firm is looking into the I-95 snowstorm shutdown that caused havoc and left drivers pleading for some accountability from authorities.
The firm, CNA, is working with the department, as well as the Virginia State Police and the Virginia Department of Emergency Management to conduct the review.
VDOT confirmed that CNA has an existing contract with Virginia through the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. The department said that the task order associated with the review is more than $79,000.
Thousands of drivers were stuck for 24 hours on the interstate on Jan. 4. In a briefing during the disaster, former Gov. Ralph Northam said crews could not pretreat roads because of the rain, and multiple tractor-trailers crashed. He said those and other factors caused a backup and challenge to access stranded drivers.
VDOT officials said they had been warning drivers all day to stay off the route, but that some from out of state might not have heard the warnings.
“It was crazy," driver in the Fredericksburg area of the interstate, Gary Griffin, said after finally getting out of the gridlock. "It was just nobody there. And now we need to sort of point a few fingers.”
Griffin was driving home to Alexandria from Fort Lee Monday morning after his 19-year-old son was sworn in as a Coast Guard member.
“We got up 95 at about noon...started slowing down. And then it stopped. And it stayed stopped. And there were no personnel, no VDOT vehicles, nothing,” he said. “We had a half a tank left, so we would warm up the car and turn it off for 30-40 minutes and warm up the car and turn it off," he said.
VDOT said that the review’s findings will be publicly available once the firm completes it in six to eight weeks.
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