ATLANTA — The season for snow is here and while there’s no snow or ice in the forecast, leaders in Atlanta are preparing for winter conditions.
When frozen precipitation makes its grand entrance, pavement in the city can turn into an ice rink.
Channel 2’s Bryan Mims spoke to the Atlanta Department of Transportation. The department monitors weather forecasts closely to decide when to bring all hands on deck for road preparation.
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ATLDOT Deputy Commissioner Allen Smith told Mims the trick to keeping roads safe is “good old-fashioned salt. This is basically the bread and butter of our operation.”
The city of Atlanta has four salt storage sites, with the salt used to make a brine that city workers use on the roads to keep keep them from icing.
“We always want to keep a pre-treatment phase if we can,” Smith told Channel 2 Action News. “Like I said, if we can get out ahead of the storm and pretreat the roads and just make it a little easier and less likely for anything to freeze over.”
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Smith said there are nine brine trucks and 11 salt trucks in Atlanta that are used when winter precipitation arrives.
When that does happen, the city is able to spread salt on the roads to help melt the snow and ice.
Last winter, Atlanta officials said the city had something of a double whammy with two winter weather events in about a week.
ATLDOT said it was tough but their crews were well-prepared.
Ahead of any winter weather events that could cause safety issues, ATLDOT crews pre-treat and salt main roads, then work to clear out neighborhood streets.
The Georgia Department of Transportation handles the interstate with a similar process.
As for Atlanta, Smith said “our goal is to be fully staffed and prepared from an equipment standpoint, a material standpoint, a staffing standpoint well ahead of any winter weather.”
Typically, Atlanta tries to pretreat roads with brine about 72 hours before winter weather hits. The transportation department provides regular updates on social media during icy events.
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