JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Much of the Jackson metro area had a sheet of ice on the roadways Tuesday morning.

Officials with the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) said crews are working to treat roads to reduce the hazardous road conditions. There have been multiple accidents along the interstates and roads on Tuesday.

Officials said drivers should stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary.

According to MDOT, they have updated machinery to deal with these conditions after the infamous 2021 ice storm. They said they’ve pulled in additional manpower to help treat the roads in the metro area.

“At that time, we had 86 snowplows. We now have 113. And those vehicles can also be converted to spread materials on the roadways. So, that has increased our ability to treat roads in more places. And we plan to put that plant into effect today. All those vehicles on the roads. Maintenance workers are working overtime. They’re actually pulling in crews from areas that didn’t experience ice, but we do have ice in all but seven Mississippi counties this morning, so everybody is spread pretty thin, but we’re handling the job. We’re treating the roads and trying to make it safe for the public to travel once again,” said David Kenny with MDOT.

Crews will be working around the clock to treat the roadways to make the interstate and highways more passable. Kenny said even though the interstates in the metro are now passable, he urged everyone to stay off of the roads.

Temperatures through Tuesday and into Wednesday morning are not expected to reach above the freezing mark.