By Mark Abrams

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — PennDOT crews are ready to roll once the wintry mix begins to hit the region.

PennDOT’s Gene Blaum said preparations for the storm began early Wednesday morning when crews started spraying the major highways in the region with a salt-brine chemical solution to keep the snow from sticking once it starts.

“Even though the temperatures have been relatively mild for this time of year, the temperatures will be hovering around the freezing mark,” said Blaum. “And then with the snow coming, we put that preliminary application of the salt brine down on the expressways.”

Blaum said PennDOT trucks are already loaded with salt and crews are getting into position.

He cautioned that with the storm expected to intensify during the evening commute, PennDOT crews will concentrate on trying to keep the roadways free of snow and ice.

Blaum said road crews could get stuck in some of the back-ups, but will do their best to keep on top of conditions well into the night-time hours.

“Anytime you do get a storm approaching either a morning or evening-rush, that does tend to potentially make it a bit more difficult from a travel standpoint for our equipment operators because we have to travel in the same traffic,” he said. “But, we’ll have our fleet of trucks out on the roadways and they’ll be spreading the salt and dealing with the traffic as we come upon it.”

Blaum put out a plea to motorists who aren’t used to much winter driving this season to reduce their speeds and give the PennDOT trucks and crews enough room to do their jobs.