'It Always Gets Crazy': Crews Preparing To Get Philly Roads Ready For Messy Commute

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Crews will be working Friday night, ahead of the weather to get the roads ready for a messy Saturday as the area could see two inches of snow overnight.

CBS 3's Greg Argos reports that the Philadelphia Streets Department is working to get the roads ready for the morning commute.

"We're prepping the fleet to salt anything that comes our way," said Steve Lorenz of the Philadelphia Streets Department.

Temps Stay Below Freezing, Snow On The Way

City officials are making sure the roadways are as safe as possible when wintry conditions hit.

"We're expecting about one to two inches of snow, freezing rain in the morning, so we're getting ready to load the trucks up, making sure everything is working," said Lorenz.

City trucks loaded with salt have already left a North Philadelphia depot, ready to treat the roads.

Driver say they're glad for the early preparation.

"It always gets crazy," said Frank Konigas. "Drivers are crazy. They always think they can go faster than they should, so I always worry."

CBS 3's Alexandria Hoff reports the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has about 122,000 tons of salt stockpiled throughout the region and over 450 snow trucks ready to get to work.

Crews are working in shifts of 4 p.m. to 12 a.m., then midnight to 4 a.m., and so on.

The preparations actually started Thursday when brine, which is a mixture of rock salt and magnesium chloride, was laid down on state roadways to help with anti-icing.

PennDOT says that for this kind of weather event the timing is almost ideal, being that this falls on a Saturday and a true rush hour won't be impacted, but given the season, they add that there is still concern about drivers out holiday shopping or traveling early.

"Our crews will be working through the night into tomorrow morning keeping roadways passable, but we urge motorists to use extreme care if they must drive in these conditions, especially since we will have changing conditions throughout the morning hours changing to sleet and freezing rain," said John Krafczyk of PennDOT.

The entire Delaware Valley is going to be affected by the wintry weather.

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