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State of Emergency continues for second day

Posted at 6:57 AM, Mar 15, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-15 07:53:44-04

The statewide State of Emergency will continue into Wednesday due to worse-than-expected weather conditions in Central and Western New York.

Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul held a news conference early Wednesday morning at the state's regional command center in Cheektowaga.

Lt. Gov. Hochul said the State of Emergency allows officials to direct state resources like plows and plow drivers to local municipalities if needed.

Lt. Gov. Hochul said those state resources went to help Niagara Falls overnight after the city reached its mandatory overtime limit and city workers could not continue plowing roads through the night. She said four plows are assisting in Niagara Falls until city workers can return to work at 7 a.m.

The tractor-trailer ban remains in effect on the Thruway across New York State and is expected to continue through Wednesday's morning commute.

Local tractor-trailer drivers headed west toward the Pennsylvania border are encouraged to use Route 5 and Route 20 as an alternative to the Thruway.

"It's an inconvenience, but it's all about keeping our roads safe and allowing our Thruway personnel to keep the roads clear enough so we can open it up to normal traffic as soon as possible," Hochul said.

You can watch Lt. Gov. Hochul's full briefing in the video above.