Who Treated Roads, Who Didn't During Tuesday's Black Ice Mess

There's no doubt about it - black ice wrecked havoc on Tuesday's morning commute.

Two major accidents occurred after drivers hit black ice on West Main Road, a state highway. One , while another vehicle struck a tree and .

Both drivers were treated for injuries and released from the hospital. 

Portsmouth Patch users are now questioning if state and local roads were treated Tuesday morning. 

Here are just a few of the comments from users: 

"Black Ice might have been a factor"; are you kidding? Black ice was a major widespread issue statewide and the DOT's non-proactive response to it was ludicrous. Don't they monitor the weather? Budget issue??? — 

I was surprised to find no salt and sand when I dropped my son at the high school this morning-nearly slid into another vehicle as the drive was so icy! — 

The sand trucks were out in Portsmouth. I and many others had the good fortune of being behind him as he sprayed sand on East Main Road. Ice was not expected so it did take a little time to get personnel in to man the equipment and get it on the road. — 

Department of Transportation spokesman says roads were treated

According to Rhode Island Department of Transportation (DOT) spokesman Bryan Lucier, sand trucks were sent out to treat state roads Tuesday morning. 

An individual called the Portsmouth station around 6:20 a.m., reporting icy road conditions. The first sand trucks were sent out at 7 a.m., said Lucier. 

"Portsmouth didn't see a lot of ice," Lucier said. "There was light precipitation around 5 a.m., but temperatures didn't hit their lowest until between 6 and 7 o'clock." 

The DOT spokesman says the freezing conditions were unexpected.  "A lot of it (road treatment) depends on the forecast," Lucier said. "In this, it wasn't forecasted...

"This was largely unexpected. As soon as we got the call, we got the trucks on the road. It hit different areas of the state differently." 

Lucier said North Kingstown saw very icy conditions early Tuesday, with reports coming in as soon as 3 a.m. Other areas of the state saw little to no ice, he said. 

Portsmouth Department of Public Works "spot-sands" town roads

Portsmouth (DPW) director David Kehew said local roads were not fully treated with sand, but workers "spot sanded" icy areas. 

"Every time we go out, it's big, big money," he said. "When things get dicey, police call my home. We had no police reports."

DPW workers "spot sanded" or sanded areas known for icy conditions. "We did our spot sanding just where it was necessary to not waste material," Kehew said. "...we kept our eyes on those (roads) in the morning." 

Kehew criticized the state workers for not treating their roads. "It was the first time I didn't see the state prepared for that," he said. 

However, Kehew also said the black ice was unexpected. "There was no one forecasting that at all, but we kept an eye out," he said.