Travel ban ends at 2 p.m.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said the travel ban will end at 2 p.m. Third-shift nonessential workers do not need to come in.
All state employees are ordered back to work Wednesday.
Earlier, Malloy had lifted the ban for local roads and local travel in Fairfield and Litchfield counties, but ban remained in place for the rest of the state.
New London Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio said this morning that some residents were ignoring the travel ban.
"City crews have been making good progress in responding to storm but their efforts are now being impeded by motorists who are going out on the roads and getting stuck," he said in an email.
"City staff cannot stress enough that all residents should shelter in place and stay off the roads. By being on the roads you only risk your own safety and slow the City’s response to the storm. Please continue to follow all instructions disseminated by emergency management personnel," he said.
In Preston, First Selectman Robert Congdon said a town snow plow is stuck on Lewis Road and other town crews are en route to "pull him out."
The crew was not injured, and the truck is not far off the road.
Local road conditions continue to be bad, and residents are asked to stay off the roads until the storm passes.
Congdon said he would welcome the state's offer of help clearing local roads later, but for now in Preston, "the local roads are better than the state roads."
Earlier this morning, police across the region reported that the travel ban on roadways that took effect at 9 p.m. Monday seemed to be working as they have not reported any accidents.
One dispatcher in Waterford noted that it seems that people are heeding the ban as it was “quiet” all night.
Electric Boat has canceled all three shifts today and most businesses remain closed.
Kevin Nursick, spokesman for the DOT, said there are 850 plow drivers on the roads.
So far, he said, the drivers have been able to keep all major highways passable, but the secondary state roads will be difficult to travel on.
“We are doing remarkably well, considering,” said Nursick. “I don’t want people to think that it’s OK to travel on the highways. The reason why we are doing so well and are able to plow the roads is because people are staying off them.”
Nursick said drivers are reporting difficulty in the eastern portion of the state as it is currently “getting hammered” by the snow. The Interstate 395 corridor is particularly difficult for travel, he said.
“The good news is that the snow is soft and fluffy so it’s easy to plow,” said Nursick. “The bad news is that it’s so windy that it’s creating big drifts.”
Aaron Kupec, public affairs manager for AAA, also said that most people seem to be heeding the travel ban. Since the travel ban went into effect at 9 p.m. Monday until 10:30 this morning, AAA has only received 61 calls.
On Monday, AAA received 1,271 calls. The top three requests were for towing, jump starts, and lock service.
Connecticut Light & Power is 1,609 outages throughout the state. The majority of those outages are from Greenwich.
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