I-95 Shutdown Ends, Drivers Escape VA Highway After 20+ Hours Stuck In Snow (2024)

Snowplows cleared I-95 after hundreds of vehicles were trapped for a day by ice and snow. Drivers stuck overnight shared food, water.

Posted Tue, Jan 4, 2022 at 9:11 am ET|Updated Wed, Jan 5, 2022 at 11:23 am ET

VIRGINIA — Drivers rationed their gasoline, shared snacks and water, and finally escaped a 50-mile section of Interstate 95 in Virginia that was paralyzed for more than 20 hours by a snowstorm. Sen. Tim Kaine, former vice presidential candidate, was one of the many Virginians stuck in the mess as vehicles sat parked on icy traffic lanes.

About 6 p.m. Tuesday the Virginia Department of Transportation tweeted: "There are no people stranded still on I-95. Less than 20 vehicles left to be removed from the interstate before plow trains will come through to remove snow and ice from the travel lanes."

A 40-mile stretch of highway that had been completely shut down reopened at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

VDOT crews started to escort trapped drivers off I-95, one of the country's busiest highways, on Tuesday afternoon. Drivers stuck between mile marker 104 in Caroline County and exit 152 near Dumfries in Prince William County were detoured to the nearest exit in both directions of I-95.

Nearby Stafford County said it deployed the school district's transportation crews to pick up stranded drivers.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said crews were overmatched by the rapid snowfall. "We were prepared for the storm that was forecasted," he said in a news briefing late Tuesday afternoon. "This was an incredibly unusual event."

On Monday morning, the precipitation began as rain. VDOT crews were not able to pretreat roads, since the rain would have washed away their efforts, Northam said.

"I can certainly understand the fear and frustration," Northam said. "This has been a long night for many."

Northam also said the Virginia National Guard was not deployed because there was no request made by the affected localities. The governor added the National Guard is now on standby.

Several drivers reported being stuck on the highway from Monday morning until midday Tuesday. VDOT officials said many drivers became stuck and stranded overnight due to build-ups of disabled vehicles amid accumulated snow and ice on the road. Virginia State Police said there were no injuries reported on I-95 in the affected area.

On Tuesday morning, VDOT snow plows and towing crews began mobilizing to clear the highway, taking stuck vehicles to every available interchange between Caroline County and Prince William County.

I started my normal 2 hour drive to DC at 1pm yesterday. 19 hours later, I’m still not near the Capitol. My office is in touch with @VaDOT to see how we can help other Virginians in this situation. Please stay safe everyone. pic.twitter.com/Sz1b1hZJZ5
— Tim Kaine (@timkaine) January 4, 2022

Marvin Romero is from New York. He drove to Florida to spend time with family for the holidays, and wound up stuck overnight on I-95 with his 8 and 10-year-old daughters.

Romero started noticing traffic slowing down around 3 p.m. on Monday. By 10 p.m., the cars in front of him had stopped for the night.

“I knew a storm was coming,” Romero said. “But I didn’t think any of the states were this poorly prepared.”

Like many drivers who are stranded, Romero and his daughters slept in their car on the highway. Waking up was a surreal experience.

“I was completely surprised,” Romero told Patch. “To wake up in the middle of the highway, it’s a weird, odd feeling.”

Still, Romero considers himself an optimist, and he’s looking to make the best of a bad situation. “This is an opportunity that not many people have, to be able to walk out onto a major highway,” he said.

Romero had spare water in his car, and distributed some to the other drivers who were in the area. Another driver gave him a Meal Ready-To-Eat, which is a bagged meal used to feed soldiers on deployments or field operations.

Romero and his daughters were "out of the madness," on Tuesday afternoon, he told Patch. They expect to reach their home in New York on Tuesday evening.

"We know many travelers have been stuck on Interstate 95 in our region for extraordinary periods of time over the past 24 hours, in some cases since Monday morning," VDOT Fredericksburg District Engineer Marcie Parker said. "This is unprecedented, and we continue to steadily move stopped trucks to make progress toward restoring lanes."

Read more: Snow Hits Washington DC, Virginia With Icy Roads: Photos

VDOT officials have not provided estimates for when the highway would reopen. They are urging drivers to avoid travel if at all possible, stating that most roads are in "severe condition, with little to no visible pavement."

VDOT's Twitter account is full of responses from drivers who were stranded on I-95 overnight.

"Good morning, and welcome back to the nightmare," one person tweeted to the Fredericksburg branch of VDOT at 6 a.m. "We've not moved since your last tweet at midnight."

The current standstill on I-95 is the second since a snowstorm caused severe conditions on roadways throughout Virginia. On Monday afternoon, I-95 southbound was shut down for more than five hours for a trash involving six tractor-trailers.

Read more: I-95 Southbound Shut Down For Crash Involving 6 Tractor-Trailers

The Fredericksburg area received about 14 inches during Monday's storm, according to spotters from the National Weather Service. Many roadways in the area weren't cleared, and VDOT officials saw refreezing bring black ice to roadways on Tuesday morning.