CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Texas Department of Highway crews are working to open roads in Coastal Bend as quickly as they can. Rickey Dailey, TxDOT’s public information officer, said most of the main corridors in Corpus Christi remain closed due to ice conditions.
Crews are working on and evaluating the JFK Causeway and Harbor Bridge, but Dailey doesn’t expect them to open Monday. Crews are deploying deicing agents to the Nueces River Bridge, I-37 in Labonte Park and US-77, from Refugio to Kingsville. Currently, US-77 remains open, but is a mix of main lanes and facade roads.
TxDOT crews spread a melting agent mixed with ice rock on the roads. The melting agent helps break the bond between the ice and the road, while the ice rock helps with traction.
First, Dailey said TxDOT teams need to make sure road conditions are safe enough for crew to travel before they start working on them to open them to the public.
“First of all, we have to evaluate the conditions of the road, to see if it is safe for our crews to get out. At different times of the night, it just overtook us and we had to withdraw our crews. Our dumpers that had a defrosting agent were slipping and that’s not safe, ”he said.
Dailey said it is unclear when major roads in the area will be reopened and that it depends on the weather conditions that develop. However, he said as temperatures warm up, the ice will melt, but as they fall again, it will freeze again and turn to black ice, which is dangerous.
“People might see a puddle on the road and think, ‘Hey, it’s just wet,’ when it’s really icy. It’s a very dangerous condition, and that’s why we still ask people to stay home and don’t drive today, ”he said.
Outside of Corpus Christi, road conditions are similar. Sheriffs of Aransas, Bee, Duval, Kenedy, Kleberg, Refugio and San Patricio counties report varying degrees of icy roads. The counties of Live Oak, Refugio and San Patricio had reports of accidents operating the sheriffs.
In Aransas County, not many accident calls were made to the sheriff’s office, but Sheriff Bill Mills called for caution from area drivers.
“Depending on where you are, you will see more visible, it is almost constant everywhere. It’s to the point where it’s crowded enough where, if you walk in, as you approach the intersections, get ready to stop, if you’re traveling with more than twenty [miles per hour] you will slide through some intersections. We ask everyone to use their best judgment and if you don’t need to leave, please don’t leave, ”he said.
Office of the Sheriff of Aransas County
The Dale Miller Bridge in Aransas Pass remains open Monday afternoon, as does the Port Aransas Ferry. Sheriff Mills said Lamar Road is still icy but passable, and they are trying to suspend the closure of the road so as not to isolate people in the north.
Sheriff Mills reported power outages throughout the area and said there are shelters open in the county; to local fire stations and even some churches in Fulton, and he said his crews had transported people to those shelters that could not stay in their homes because of the cold.
Dailey wants people to know that TxDOT works hard to get roads in the area open and safe to travel as quickly as possible.
“The public needs to know that it is still difficult to open these roads, even after the ice and rain have stopped falling and freezing. We will do our best and continue to do our best. We work 24 hours a day, we work 12-hour shifts, 24 hours a day, ”he said.
Bee County Sheriff’s Office
Both Dailey and Sheriff Mills want people to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary, as long as conditions are as they are.
“Please stay home, don’t drive unless you absolutely have to. These are complicated driving conditions and we want everyone to be safe, ”said Dailey.
“We are not used to driving in these conditions. There’s an adage I’ve used for a long time: either you’re part of the solution or you’re part of the problem. If you do not need to leave, you will enter part of the problem area. We would ask everyone to stay where they are as long as they can hold out, ”Sheriff Mills said.
For the most up-to-date information on road conditions and closures, see the TxDOT road condition map. TxDOT also has traffic cameras available to see road conditions, although some may not be operational due to the cold.