Travel Along I-35E In Denton Moved Fairly Well, But A Different Story On The Hilly Access Roads
DENTON, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - The snow in Denton ended by late morning, but icy roads remained.
Janet Sloane said driving her 18-wheeler had gone fairly smoothly until she tried to navigate a hilly portion of the I-35E access road at Brinker Road. "I was doing okay until I got stuck on the hill. I'm just trying to get home."
Even the driver of a large truck who tried helping Sloane had his wheels spin too.
Further north on the access road, crews had to pull a pickup truck out of a ditch after it slid off the road and slammed into a power pole.
Denton Municipal Electric said the power remained on and they will replace it in the next couple of days.
Senior lineman Chase Oliver said, "We brought one of our spare trucks from the yard, put it on it to keep it up, so it won't fall over."
As of 4:30pm Thursday, the Denton Police Department said it responded to 44 accidents since 6pm Wednesday.
No one suffered life-threatening injuries.
TxDOT crews drove plows and brine trucks up and down the main lanes of I-35E for much of the day in Denton.
But alongside the highway was a telltale sign that most people heeded the warnings to stay off the roads and at home; the normally packed Buc-ee's in Denton was relatively empty.
James Tuberville, a frequent customer from Sanger said he couldn't remember the last time he saw this popular store look this way, "Never. Never. I didn't have to wait for a fuel spot or anything like that. Just pull right up and go right in."
The City of Denton said 16 people spent the night at its 24 hour emergency shelter at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center.
It will remain open until noon Sunday.
Earlier Thursday morning, Denton Square became a winter wonderland where even the snowflakes were Texas-sized.
Max Hedden was out walking his dog. "I've never seen snowflakes this big in Texas, so it's pretty amazing."
Ruth Church-Owens walked to her job in Denton Square. "It's really like a story book almost. Really nice. Looks like one of those holiday puzzles you would do."
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