KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Department of Transportation is getting the state's roads ready for winter weather, and on Tuesday, it urged drivers to use caution when headed out.
“We prepare for winter weather months in advance,” TDOT Commissioner Joe Galbato said in a release. “Our salt bins and our brine are fully stocked, and our employees are ready to mobilize in the event of inclement weather. Clearing our roadways as soon as we can is vital to keeping motorists safe and traffic moving in Tennessee.”
The department said crews were working to salt the roads and prevent ice from forming. Officials asked drivers to give crews extra room while they worked, and said that the safest place motorists could be during winter weather is at home.
East Tennessee is expecting wintery weather on Thursday, and crews are able to treat the roads this time. TDOT said during the last winter weather system, it could not retreat roads since rain would have washed away the salt.
TDOT said it currently has nearly 200,000 tons of salt and more than 1.5 million gallons of salt brine ready for use.
In a similar fashion, Knox County Engineering & Public Works crews on Wednesday applied approximately 50,000 gallons of liquid salt brine to all county collector and arterial roads. This morning, crews switched to regular salt and prepared vehicles to service roadways in each district as needed.
Salt brine is a salt/water mixture used for pre-treating roads before a winter storm or to melt snow on roadways when temperatures are hovering around the freezing mark, according to the department. Salt is applied to roads once the snow has started to accumulate.
Officials said drivers should also give themselves extra braking room during winter weather and should use caution when driving on bridges since they usually get slicker compared to regular roads.
Knox County's Highway Department said they are prepared for additional snow as well. The Highway Department can equip up to 14 trucks with brine spreaders or equipment to spread granular road salt. Knox County has 17 snowplows that can be attached to dump trucks as needed and has 12 four-wheel-drive trucks that can be equipped with smaller snowplows for use on more narrow roads.
TDOT said ice and snow removal teams focus first on clearing interstates and heavily traveled state routes and specifically target hills, curves, ramps, bridges and interchanges, which freeze easily. During prolonged weather events, crews may have to clear roadways repeatedly.
Officials also said drivers can use TDOT's SmartWay system to learn about crashes, backups and delays before they leave the house.
TDOT’s statewide 2021-2022 winter weather budget is $25.6 million and includes salt, salt brine, overtime for employees, and equipment maintenance. The department has salt vendors to refill salt bins as needed in all 95 Tennessee counties.
