ATLANTA () – As snow fall and icy conditions gripped much of Georgia, the Department of Transportation working overnight to treat roads in Atlanta, and Central, Southern and coastal parts of the state.

Their message to drivers is to be patient and simply to stay off the roads as roads may still be icy.

Crews from the Georgia DOT are working 12-hour shifts to clear snow along major interstates and have finished about 25 percent in the state due to icy conditions. Georgia DOT says their main priority is to clear major interstates in Savannah including I-95, I-16 and in Augusta, I-20, and I-520.

“This was a major storm for the entire state. Really from south of metro Atlanta and all the way to Florida is impacted,” said Georgia DOT Commissioner Russell McMurray.

The DOT says interstates, state routes and critical roads like hospital areas are the biggest priority with more than 1.7 million gallons of brine being treated this weekend.

But the winter weather poses severe challenges due to ice, snow and low temperatures, meaning it could another 48 hours to clear out the mess.

“This is a multi day event. We are still focused on interstates and tonight, and tomorrow in the following days and make the roads passable,” said McMurray.

Commissioner McMurray says south of I-20 and east of I-85 is hazardous and very dangerous and asking people to shelter in place, telework and avoid being on the roads due to falling temperatures. They say they cannot treat roads when they are gridlocked with vehicles.

Crews are mixing calcium into the salt brine mixture because calcium heats up the brine mixture and can serve as a deicer.  

“From I-20 below there is about 25,000 miles of roadway so if we did just two lanes we have that’s going to take a long time. We have about 448 snow plows and 1500 people and we are asking for people to stay home and stay off the roads to give us time to do our jobs,” said McMurray.

If you do see a Georgia DOT truck spraying gravel or salt, stay at least 100 feet away from the rear of the truck.

The DOT says they have seen crashes on I-75 south of Atlanta, and I-95 in Chatham county in savannah near the I-16 and I-95 interchange.

Several areas in the Atlanta area including Buckhead, Midtown and by the Atlanta airport had snow turn into black ice stranding drivers and causing traffic bottlenecks.