Snow covers Latvia’s roads: 117 teams of vehicles tackle winter conditions

Snow and blizzard on Wednesday morning made driving difficult throughout the country, reports VSIA “Latvijas valsts ceļi” (LVC).

Slippery road sections are treated with anti-skid materials. To improve driving conditions, 117 winter service vehicles are involved in road maintenance work.

On the main national roads, driving is difficult on the Tallinn highway, the Vidzeme highway from Riga to Veclaicene, the Valmiera highway from Murjāņi to Valka, the entire Riga bypass and the Daugavpils highway from Salaspils to Ilūkste.

There are also difficult driving conditions on the Bauska highway from Riga to Dzimtmisa, on the Jelgava highway from Riga to Meitene, on the Liepāja highway from Riga to Annenieki and from Blīdene to Liepāja, on the Ventspils highway from Riga to Ventspils, on the Liepāja-Lithuanian border (Rucava) highway along its entire route, on the Jēkabpils-Rēzekne-Ludza-Russian border (Terehova) highway along its entire route, and on the Russian border (Grebņeva)-Rēzekne-Daugavpils-Lithuanian border (Medumi) highway from Špoģi to Grebņeva.

Also, one should be cautious when driving on the Rezekne bypass and the national regional road Tīnūži-Koknese.

Regional roads are difficult in the vicinity of Riga, Ogre, Aizkraukle, Madona, Dobele, Jelgava, Gulbene, Smiltene, Saldus, Talsi, Jēkabpils, Kuldīga, Tukums, Liepāja, Dobele, Valka and Ventspils.

LVC reminds that snow will form repeatedly during snowfall, so it is advised to plan extra time on the road. It is important to drive at a speed appropriate to the weather conditions and to keep a greater distance to vehicles ahead.

Maintenance work is carried out in priority order, starting with main roads, then regional roads and then local roads.

Drivers are urged to take extra care to drive at a speed appropriate to the condition of the road surface and to keep a safe distance from vehicles ahead.