Road Crews Preparing Across The Region For Next Round Of Snow
By Diana Rocco
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A busy day turns to a busier night at salt yards from Pennsylvania to New Jersey. Camden County will have 80 pieces of equipment on the roads and PennDOT nearly 500 in position and ready for the storm that's expected to drop anywhere from 3 to 8 inches across the Tri-State.
"The roads will be passable, however with the extreme cold, the ineffectiveness of the salt, the roads may be snow covered," said John Krafczyk of PennDOT.
The morning commute has PennDOT most concerned with up to an inch an hour during the busiest rush along with freezing temperatures which makes their salt mix less effective.
"What you'll see is as we're plowing and we start putting salt down before the morning rush hour, it will not turn into a wet, watery condition," said Krafczyk.
In Montgomery County many were out picking up last minute salt and ice melt for driveways and sidewalks.
"My husband is so sick of winter, I love it," said Elizabeth Bray.
Elizabeth Bray and her husband just moved from San Diego.
"I have a job that I can work from home so I don't have to drive. He works in the city so unfortunately no matter what, he's going to have to make the trip."
Holod's Hardware in Lafayette Hill was busy with people buying shovels and heaters to help fight the extreme cold. De-icer was also a popular item.
"Mostly people are going to come in and ask for rock salt, they know it by name. Rock salt's not as effective in the cold temperatures. It will start to pit the concrete, it can stain carpets, it's not necessarily great for the pets, so the calcium chloride and potassium chloride are going to be the safest," said Louis Holod of Holod's Hardware.
In Philadelphia, drivers were gassing up and getting ready for what's sure to be a messy morning.
So far this season, PennDOT says they've already used 88,000 tons of salt. With this passing storm, that number is only expected to rise.
