The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 1 snow and ice team is carefully monitoring a winter weather event that is expected to hit the 12 westernmost counties of Kentucky with a winter mix of precipitation on Thursday and Friday.
Area highway crews have stocked up on brine to prepare to pretreat roadways, if possible. At this point, it appears rain will move in before the winter precipitation hits. That prohibits pretreating because the rain would wash away any benefits.
The snow and ice team will continue to monitor the weather forecast. If the chance of rain diminishes crews will be prepared to pre-treat. Otherwise, crews are continuing their regular maintenance activities. In between other duties, operators will be checking their equipment to assure they are prepared for whatever arrives at our doorstep later in the week. Back in late-October, operators made test runs along their assigned routes with snow plows and salt spreaders mounted on their trucks.
Motorists are asked to carefully monitor area news media outlets for updates as this winter weather event approaches.
KyTC has established snow and ice priority routes for each county. Maps showing the snow removal priority routes are available at http://go.usa.gov/gmDe. In the initial hours of a winter weather event, crews focus much of their attention on “A” snow and ice priority routes such as interstates, parkways and federal highways. As conditions improve on major transportation routes, crews move to “B” routes which are generally connector routes, then move to “C” routes which are generally rural secondary highways.
Timely traffic advisories for the 12 counties of KyTC Highway District 1 are available by going to www.facebook.com/kytcdistrict1. You do not have to be a Facebook member to access this page.
