City, state crews ready to treat roads

With ligh snow making its way through East Tennessee, both city and state road crews were ready to keep drivers safe.

TDOT crews across East Tennessee were ready to hit their routes as early as midnight, according to spokesperson Mark Nagi. They focus on interstates and state highways.

RELATED: With cold & snow on the way, school closings & delays are coming in

RELATED: Snow showers and bitterly cold air will move into East Tennessee on Tuesday

TDOT will monitor road conditions and deploy crews as necessary.

With rain forecast to come in before it transitions to snow, pre-treating the roads won't be possible.

The City of Knoxville has crews scheduled to come into work at 4 a.m. Tuesday to make sure the main roads, bridges and overpasses are all in good shape for the morning commute

“Our city crews are ready for the winter season even though we may get very little snow tonight,” said Chad Weth, Director of the Public Service Department. “We have a great team that plans every year for snowstorms.”

The city prioritizes the most heavily traveled streets, like Kingston Pike, Chapman Highway, Magnolia Avenue and Broadway. They also work quickly to clear roads heading to hospitals.

Crews will treat roads with rock salt as needed.

Here's what the city has on hand to treat the roads this winter:

• Up to 25,000 gallons of brine, which is mixed at the City’s Public Works Service Center;
• 8,000 gallons of calcium chloride, used in extreme temperatures;
• 2,000 tons of rock salt;
• 23 trucks used for plowing and salting;
• Seven trucks used for brine application; and
• Up to 75 employees as needed for storm response.

Here's how the City of Knoxville prioritizes the treatment of roads:

• Level I – main streets carrying the highest volume of traffic and providing access to hospitals; examples include Kingston Pike, Chapman Highway, Magnolia Avenue and Broadway
• Level II – streets connecting main streets, feeder streets to connector streets, and “trouble spots” and hills; examples include Sutherland Avenue, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Woodland Avenue, Moody Avenue and Cedar Lane
• Level III -- streets that are connectors to neighborhoods and main connections at the neighborhood level; examples include Island Home Drive, Jessamine Street, Bridgewater Road and Oglewood Avenue

You can see the city's complete snow plan here.