Penndot Ready For Coming Snowstorm, Urges Driver Caution
By Brad Segall and Natasha Brown
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is gearing up for the next round of winter weather to take aim on the Philadelphia region, and crews are expecting challenges with this storm.
Penndot's Nick Martino says the suburbs north and west of the city could see as much as 14 inches of snow while the city and the I-95 corridor will get snow at first and then sleet and rain.
It's important, he says, to get salt down in the first two hours of the storm, to prevent the precipitation from bonding to the road.
And he expects a lot of plowing with this storm and pleads for cooperation from motorists on the roads.
"It's going to be a full callout," Martino tells KYW Newsradio. "We're going to have 415 trucks out there right from the beginning to as long as we need that. So, when you have that amount of equipment out there, it's really important that you do stay six car lengths behind our operations."
He says they are also concerned about possible flooding and trees that may come down because the ground is saturated.
So far this season, Martino says, Penndot has used 120,000 tons of salt but there is plenty still in storage.
Penndot crews were out Wednesday night filling up their salt trucks as what is certain to be a long and difficult night ahead.
"With the amount of snow that's coming and we'll be doing a a lot of plowing, it's a plowing operation, but then it changes over. So then there's going to be situations maybe with the rain coming, you don't know if there be tree issues that may pop up," Martino said.
Penndot says it is currently gone through at least 95 percent of its budget, but they are still certain that they are prepared for whatever else this winter may bring.
