With the season’s first snow flurries forecast for this afternoon, N.C. Department of Transportation crews in Division 9, which includes Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Stokes and Rowan counties, have calibrated equipment, completed dry runs and attached spreaders and plows to trucks to ensure they are prepared to respond to winter weather in the Triad.
“We are prepared to keep the roads clear of snow and ice in Division 9,” said Division Maintenance Engineer John Rhyne. “We have prepared our trucks and equipment, topped off our fuel tanks, stocked our supplies of salt and sand, and have crews on alert and ready to respond in the event of winter weather.”
With the system predicted to begin as light rain in most areas before briefly turning over to flurries, NCDOT will not pretreat the roads in the Triad with a salt-water mixture called brine because it would be washed away. However, there is still the potential for icy spots to form on roads as temperatures drop below freezing, particularly on bridges and overpasses. Local crews will be on standby to treat slippery spots overnight or Wednesday morning and motorists are encouraged to remember these safety tips:
• Slow down;
• Bridges and overpasses freeze first;
• Put down the cell phone and focus on the road;
• Use only gentle pressure on both the accelerator and the brakes to avoid skidding; and
• Give other motorists plenty of room in case you or other drivers begin to slide.
NCDOT has produced several videos explaining how maintenance crews gear up for winter weather months in advance, how they determine when to use salt and sand, and how they decide which roads to clear first. These videos and many others are available on the NCDOT YouTube page.
NCDOT also encourages motorists to check conditions before you go. Motorists can access real-time information about changing road conditions across the state in a number of ways:
• Call 511, the department’s toll-free travel information line;
• Visit NCDOT’s travel webpage to see live traffic camera images and access road conditions by region, route or county;
• Use NCDOT Mobile, the mobile version of the department’s website, to know before you go about road conditions. Just type “m.ncdot.gov” into your smartphone’s browser;
• Like” NCDOT on Facebook; and
• Follow one of NCDOT’s many Twitter feeds.