BOISE, Idaho — Boise is seeing its first snow of the season, with rain expected throughout the week and more snowfall on the way. As winter weather moves in, road conditions can quickly become hazardous. The Ada County Highway District is preparing for winter road maintenance and urging drivers to stay cautious.
With rain and snow in the forecast, roads across Ada County could become slick, making travel dangerous. ACHD Road Maintenance Manager Tom Otte says drivers should slow down and prepare for changing conditions.
“Most important thing is to give yourself more time to get where you want to go. You want to be able to increase your following distance to vehicles,” Otte said. “You want to make sure that you don’t have to brake hard. You want to just make sure you don’t have to react as quickly.”
Otte warns that even rain can pose risks, especially at the start of a storm.
“When it first starts to rain, the oil that’s on the road that’s leaked out of cars or just, you know, been on the road surface, that will rise first, so roads will get very slippery at the initial part of a rainstorm,” he said.
ACHD keeps an eye on road conditions to determine when plows or de-icing measures are necessary. Winter road maintenance begins long before the first snowfall.
“We have on-call supervisors who actually go out and physically drive the areas all around Ada County through each city because there are some micro-climates around, and we want to make sure that every area is properly checked,” Otte said. “When they notice that the road conditions are getting bad, they’ll bring in our team, and we’ll start plowing or applying pre-conditioner.”
Before heading out, ACHD reminds drivers to turn on their headlights, even during the day, to improve visibility.
“It’s very important when you’re in these low-light situations during the day to make sure that you have your headlights on. It makes it so you can see, but also that you can be seen,” Otte said.
ACHD says it’s ready for winter, but it’s up to drivers to slow down, stay alert, and drive safely in changing conditions.