IDAHO — Melting snow and overnight temperature drops mean slick conditions but the Idaho Transportation Department and Ada County Highway District are working to prevent icy roads.
- Crews from ITD are working winter shifts meaning 24/7 coverage and help.
- ACHD will continue to monitor and respond to road temperatures falling below freezing.
- ITD uses a mix of salt and magnesium chloride to keep roads dry.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
A winter flair-up at the start of March is making roads in Idaho tough to travel meaning agencies in the Treasure Valley have to respond.
"Right now, we are in our standard winter operations, so we are running crews 24 hours a day. Two 12-hour shifts," explains Matt Kreizenbeck, community outreach coordinator with ITD.
The Idaho Transportation Department along with the Ada County Highway District doing what it can to keep streets clear.
"We have crews that are going to be monitoring the road conditions as it can potentially drop below freezing overnight and so they will apply material as required to make sure that there are no icy spots," said Lloyd Carnegie, maintenance manager for ACHD.
"We'll be out there applying deicing material and keeping our eyes on road temperatures and what the weather is doing," said Kreizenbeck.
ITD says they will be dropping a mix of salt and magnesium chloride. That's to keep these roads from staying wet because when the temperatures drop and they aren't dry, that's when they become slick.
ITD also asks drivers to drive for the winter and not to just get to a destination quickly.
"We want drivers to drive for conditions and that's reducing your speed if the road is icy if there's any chance of there being slick conditions, we want drivers to reduce their speed," said Kreizenbeck.
