County and state road crews are ready for winter

The official start of winter on the calendar is still almost three weeks away, but this late into fall, with temperatures continuing to decrease, the threat of snow, ice and other wintry type weather is always a threat.

The winter season is also one of the busiest for road crews throughout most of the country and here in Kentucky and Clinton County it’s no different as county and state crews spend a lot of time preparing for winter weather long before the first snowflakes fall.

This year, the Clinton County Road Department is well prepared for the winter season, with additional equipment, manpower and training. In fact, Clinton County Road Foreman Michael Craig said the road department was “100 percent more prepared for winter weather this year.”

Craig, now in his second year as head of the road crew, began his job in mid-January of this year–just in time for one of the worst winter weather seasons the county had seen in several years. It kept road workers busy almost around the clock at times, trying to keep snow and ice off the roads as much as possible.

During the 2015-16 winter season, the road department was basically using three snow plow trucks and seven or eight members on the road crew.

Craig said this year the county has five trucks available for snow removal, including a brand new recently purchased truck, a 2016 model, that he says will be well-used and a huge help if the winter season is a bad one.

During last year’s winter snow season, over 400 tons of road salt was used over the period, an unusually high amount compared to “normal” winter weather years.

The county road department currently has 250 tons of salt on hand, with another 300 tons contracted for if necessary. They could get even more than that amount if the need arises.

“We did well last winter with the equipment and employees we have,” Craig said. “Some employees put in 80 hours in a week” while being on call to try and keep county roads plowed and salted.

This year, being able to run five trucks, there will be a truck available to salt and plow roads in each of the five magisterial districts, Craig noted. He added that each truck would begin in its own district and make a complete round, unless they were to get a call-in from someone needing emergency assistance.

There will be two road crew employees per truck, as Craig noted the road department now has 10 employees. All the employees took four hours of winter weather training, learning techniques of snow removal and how to prepare roads before a major weather situation, such as an expected heavy snow predicted to fall.

The road foreman further stated the department would add brine to the salt spread on roads prior to and during a winter storm, saying the brine is a substance that helps make ice melt faster.

When warned beforehand by winter weather forecasts, “we’ll salt the roads before the snow hits,” said Craig. He added some county road crews only plow county roads and don’t actually add salt.

Although there will be a county truck in each district, no roads will specifically be “prioritized” as to its location or amount of travel. However, the road that will be cleared first and foremost will be at the EMS facility. “Keeping Emergency Services roads cleared for those vehicles to be able to travel in emergency situations will be our top priority.”

Craig said the county road department was responsible for plowing and maintaining the streets around the driveway at the Clinton County Community Center on Spring Street.

Craig also said the local road department used sand to get better traction with their snow removal vehicles, saying salt was used prior to and after a snow fall in very cold weather because that is the substance used to help melt ice on the roadways.

Keeping the trucks and equipment used by road departments working properly is also expensive and ongoing. “Last year we wore out a lot of tires, and broke several set of chains. At one point last year, we had to buy 25 sets (chains) at once,” Craig explained, saying the costs of chains, which is essential to keep trucks running in snow and ice, was around $8,000 to $10,000 alone.

With the additional trucks able to run regular routes and additional employees to maintsin the equipment, Craig did say another positive of having five trucks would be cutting down on overtime hours. The road crew employees would log in in case of another harsh winter.

Although Craig is hoping, like most people, that the Clinton County area will have a mild, or at no worse, and “average” winter, he said he is concerned about the effects that El Nina may cause, but whatever the conditions may be, “We are ready for it.”

————————————-

With more than 22,000 tons of salt on hand, and more than 80 snow plows, salt spreaders and other equipment in Adair, Casey, Clinton, Cumberland, Lincoln, McCreary, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Russell and Wayne counties, Kentucky Department of Highways District 8 crews are also ready for winter weather duty.

Since October, district crews have been inspecting snow plows, calibrating salt-spreading equipment and developing snowstorm response procedures to keep 5,209 miles of state roads passable during inclement weather.

“We take snow and ice response very seriously,” Chief District Engineer Bruce Neely said. “Highway safety is an essential function of the Transportation Cabinet, and our crews are prepared to meet that mandate by keeping our roads as safe as possible during bad weather.”

When bad weather hits, crews are assigned 12-hour shifts to plow and treat roads using a priority system based on the amount and nature of traffic within each individual county. Priority A routes include major through routes and are those most heavily traveled. Priority B roads include other important, but lesser traveled, state routes. Other roads fall into Priority C.

While it’s the Transportation Cabinet’s goal to treat all routes within eight hours of a routine winter storm event, higher priority routes are treated within a one-to four-hour turnaround time.

More detailed information about the Kentucky Department of Highways’s snow and ice response plans, including maps of priority routes in each county, is available online at http://go.usa.gov/gmDe.

“The Transportation Cabinet recognizes how important roadway conditions are to Kentucky motorists, especially during winter storms,” Neely said. “That’s why our highway crews often spend long hours away from home to keep roadways clear and safe for the traveling public. We appreciate their service.”

Throughout the snow season, which runs from November to April, highway response teams across Kentucky serve weekly on-call rotations. The teams monitor weather reports when snow is in the forecast and determine when to activate the state’s arsenal of snow-fighting equipment, including more than 1,000 snow plows.

Motorists are reminded to give plenty of room to plows, salt trucks and other snow-clearing heavy equipment. To be effective in dispersing de-icing material, trucks tend to travel at a slower speed. Also, snow plows may create a snow cloud which can cause a white out or zero visibility condition, so keep a safe distance away from trucks.

Dial 511 or log onto http://522.ky.gov for the latest traffic and travel information in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. You can also get traffic information for the District 8 counties at www.facebook.com/KYTCDistrict89<http://www.facebook.com/KYTCDistrict8> or by following Twitter at www.twitter.com/KYTCDistrict8<http://www.twitter.com/KYTCDistrict 8>.