Closed Again Due to Icy Road Conditions
A winter storm with some of the coldest subfreezing temperatures we've seen this year brought a wintry mix of rain and freezing rain that brought deteriorating icy road conditions overnight.
MedStar Mobile Healthcare, which provides ambulance services in much of Tarrant County, was taking boosted precautions and triaging emergency calls due to the road dangers faced by get-go responders.
MedStar crews responded to a total of 393 calls for help betwixt 3 p.m. Wednesday and noon Th. Of those, 32 were calls about crashes involving injuries -- a 173% increase from the same menses last calendar week, MedStar said.
"Correct now, the roads are very treacherous. Even the ambulance services are saying and so," MedStar spokesman Matt Zavadski said in an interview Th morning on NBC 5 Today. "We have suspended reddish light and siren operations. It is simply non a good morning to be out on the roads."
Hypothermia is also a major concern. MedStar crews responded to 10 hypothermia calls from 3 p.m. Wednesday until noon Thursday.
"If you start to experience numbness in your hands, numbness in your face," Zavadski said. "Just more than chiefly, if people start to have an contradistinct mental status, if they become nauseous or vomiting, those are signs that it'southward really time to call 911 before information technology progresses to something actually significant that we can't bring you back from.
The inclement atmospheric condition prompted the closure of managed cost lanes and the temporary pause of DART'south light rail service equally drivers are encouraged to use caution on the roads or avoid driving altogether. Details on those closures is below.
NTTA TREATING TOLLWAYS THURSDAY
The North Texas Tollway Authority is currently conducting around-the-clock shifts as crews treat area roads until the winter weather event is over.
NTTA laid down a heavy salt mixture on the roads before the winter storm rolled in, which helped create a alkali on the roadways to further forestall freezing.
NTTA also has sensors on the roads that help them track conditions in existent-fourth dimension, along with more than 1,000 cameras to help visually monitor the roads.
If drivers have car trouble on an NTTA price road, you tin can call #999 or 911 to be connected to NTTA's emergency acceleration facility. Road crews and land troopers are on standby to send help.
NTTA also posts active incidents and crashes onto their Twitter page.
TEXPRESS LANES Airtight
Due to the forecast of inclement conditions, officials have airtight all managed lanes of the TEXpress organisation - which includes more than than 100 miles of TEXpress Lanes on eight Due north Texas roadways in Dallas, Tarrant, and Denton counties.
In a statement, TEXpress officials said, "in coordination with the Texas Department of Transportation, we closed the managed lanes throughout the region so that nosotros can focus our efforts and resources on the master lanes of travel."
Last winter a massive pileup forth the North Tarrant Limited killed 6 people and injured dozens more as 130 cars, trucks, and tractor-trailers slid uncontrollably on a sheet of ice and slammed into each other in the limited lanes.
A preliminary report past the National Transportation Safety Board doesn't assign blame in the crashes but noted the tollway operator pre-treated that stretch of road nearly two total days before the pileup -- and did nothing later that despite freezing temperatures and falling precipitation.
A yr after the worst pileup in Fort Worth history, survivors remember the tragedy as if information technology were yesterday.
Sprint SUSPENDS LIGHT RAIL
Dallas Area Rapid Transit (Dart) said Wed afternoon that they were implementing Operating Scenario 2 of their Astringent Winter Weather Operating Plans and suspending DART rail operations from Thursday, Feb. 3 through Lord's day afternoon on Feb. vi.
DART double-decker routes volition operate on a Sunday schedule.
Due to the expected poor atmospheric condition, DART recommends passengers avoid travel wherever possible. Riders can stay informed most service changes by registering for Sprint Alerts at www.dart.org.
UPDATED Route Atmospheric condition
Updated route weather can be viewed on our Traffic page. Click here to see the latest map.
To see the complete list of all schoolhouse closings, click here.
Wintertime Weather
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Source: https://www.nbcdfw.com/weather/weather-connection/road-conditions-managed-express-lanes-closed-dart-suspends-light-rail/2877780/