Virginia Beach crews lay down red sand

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - According to crews with the Public Works Engineering and Operations, they have been using red colored salt and sand mixture so drivers can notice it while driving, preventing more accidents.

"We had about eight crews go out just before 2:00 p.m. treating the bridges, ramps, and overpasses," Virginia Beach Media and Communication Director Drew Lankford said.

Lankford said Virginia Beach Public Works Engineering and Operations had 4,000 tons of salt and sand mix ready.

Photos: Friday's snowfall

They said eight crews are on call, and they will bring additional crews in later this evening if weather conditions worsen.

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Virginia Beach Dispatch reports slippery conditions at Centerville Highway and Providence Road. They told 10 On Your Side there have been so many accidents reported in the city, it's hard to say what the exact number is.

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It proved to be a difficult drive home all over Virginia Beach Friday night.  Drivers tell WAVY.com trips that would normally take minutes took hours.

"It was really bumper to bumper on the roads. It took more than 30 minutes from the Greenbrier parking lot before I hit the main road," driver Emilio Gellidron said.

The evening commute was cut short for several drivers who got stuck in ditches. As the night progressed, roads in Virginia Beach went from bad to worse.

"It's been horrible. It's really bad, and the people that aren't used to driving in it are pretty much the worse thing that could be happening right now," Virginia Beach driver Tracy Wilson said.

Wilson says traffic backups were so bad her husband almost ran out of gas.

'I'm going to help my husband out. He wasn't anticipating this weather, and he's in a diesel truck. He's almost out of gas," Wilson said.

Wilson drove around Virginia Beach in a pickup truck, but that didn't prevent her from almost getting hit by another car.

"Somebody missed me by inches trying to come around a corner. They had front wheel drive and just kept going," Wilson said.

It was a close call for Wilson, a northerner who has seen her fair share of snowy weather.

"I'm from Minnesota so I'm used to this weather, but apparently a lot of other people here are not," Wilson said.