BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development is repairing and replacing thousands of reflectors that were damaged or scraped off by snow plows clearing roads after the most snowfall in the capital region in over 100 years.

To tackle the task of clearing the state's highways, LaDOTD borrowed 16 snow plows and 70 workers from the Arkansas Department of Transportation who were deployed across the state to clear major highways of ice and snow.

LaDOTD spokesperson Rodney Mallett said that reopening the roadways was the department's top priority, which led to the reflectors being scraped off in the process.

“You think about the economy. People needed to get to work, and we are a very important freight corridor,” Mallett said. “That’s why we concentrated on trying to keep the east and west routes open. U.S. 190 remained open the whole time."

As for the reflectors, the damage is extensive. Thousands of reflectors likely need repairs or need to be replaced outright. Mallett said a full count has not yet been completed.

LaDOTD is hiring a contractor for the repairs, though no timeline or cost estimate has been provided.

The most affected routes include I-10 from the Texas state line to I-55, portions of I-55, parts of I-10 in New Orleans, Airline Highway and several others. While major routes were cleared, DOTD has yet to assess the full extent of the damage.

"A lot of the areas that were not even closed, we're gonna have to go and check all of those as well," Mallett said.