“I apologize to the residents of Vilnius for the inconveniences they had on their way to schools and work. As a matter of fact, city services did not respond fast enough to the weather changes, although all spreaders were on the streets in early hours of the day, and delays of public transport was caused by traffic jams. I will discuss the lessons with the top executives of the services later today,” Šimašius said in a message on Facebook.
He also thanked police officers for their fast response and efforts “to prevent further traffic congestions.”
Vilnius police reported many accidents caused by black ice, interrupting traffic of buses and trolleybuses and causing major traffic congestions.
Grinda, the municipal company, said that streets did not require any attention due to rainfall and above-zero temperatures in early hours of Wednesday, however, sudden change of wind at around 6 a.m. caused black ice. Spreaders rolled into the streets to first of all clear the streets in the suburbs that feature lower temperatures.