Raleigh – With the first major winter weather of 2015 coming through North Carolina tonight and into Tuesday, NCDOT maintenance crews from Division 5, which covers Wake, Durham, Warren, Franklin, Vance, Granville and Person have been spreading brining solution on interstate and major road travel lanes, bridges and ramps since Sunday.
The brine solution, which is mixed on site in each county, is a 23 percent salt solution that once the water dries, leaves a salt layer on the road surface. It helps prevent ice and snow from sticking to the roads. That makes travel safer for motorists, and also helps DOT crews clear the roads.
More than 90 workers across the division, using more than 50 trucks, have put down more than 259,000 gallons of brine.
Because the forecast indicates a mix of snow, ice and sleet, once the winter weather passes and cleanup begins, crews are expected to rely on salt and a salt-sand mixture to help contend with ice and slippery conditions. If accumulation develops, snow plows and graders will start the cleanup.
NCDOT has produced several videos showing how maintenance crews they 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.
A reminder to motorists that if there is significant ice, there is a chance that trees and power lines will fall across roadways, adding to dangerous conditions. Motorists who come across such incidents should notify law enforcement, and not try to clear the roads themselves. DOT and utility crews will remove fallen trees and power lines before maintenance crews proceed with snow and ice removal.
NCDOT offers the following safety tips for driving in winter weather:
- Clear windows and mirrors;
- Reduce speed and leave plenty of room between you and other vehicles;
- Approach bridges and overpasses them with extreme caution and do not apply your brakes while on a bridge unless necessary;
- If you begin to slide, take your foot off the gas and turn the steering wheel in the direction of the slide. Do not apply the brakes as that will cause further loss of control of the car;
- Come to a complete stop or yield the right of way when approaching an intersection in case any vehicles coming from other directions lose control of their vehicles while trying to stop.
- If you have a cellular phone, take it with you. You can contact the Highway Patrol statewide by calling *HP (*47) or call law enforcement by dialing 911. But please don’t call 911 to check on road conditions. That line must be kept open for emergencies.
For real-time travel information at any time, call 511, visit www.ncdot.gov/travel or follow NCDOT on Twitter at www.ncdot.gov/travel/twitter. Another option is NCDOT Mobile, a phone-friendly version of the NCDOT website. To access it, type “m.ncdot.gov” into the browser of your smartphone and bookmark it to save for future use.
You can also get emergency information from the N.C. Department of Public Safety at http://readync.org, and download the ReadyNC app to help you prepare for everything from road conditions to severe storms on a daily basis. It is available for free in the AppStore for iPhones and Google Play for Android devices.