Raleigh -NCDOT crews from Wake, Durham and
surrounding counties will be out today preparing roads for possible winter
weather expected late this afternoon and this evening. Maintenance workers in
each county will be out brining interstate and freeway bridges and overpasses,
putting down a saltwater mix to help keep ice from forming on them. The bridges
and overpasses tend to freeze up first because there is no warm ground beneath
them to provide insulation from the cold.
Crews will also be
ready with salt and sand to treat roads once the wintry mix comes in, and will
be working all night to keep the roads clear.
NCDOT has produced
several videos explaining how maintenance crews prepare for winter weather
months in advance, how they determine when to use salt and sand, and how they
decide which roads to clear first. These videos and many others are available
on the NCDOT YouTube page.
NCDOT offers the
following safety tips for driving in winter weather:
- Clear windows and mirrors;
- Reduce speed and leave plenty of room
between you and other vehicles;
- Approach bridges and overpasses them
with extreme caution and do not apply your brakes while on a bridge unless
necessary;
- If you begin to slide, take your foot
off the gas and turn the steering wheel in the direction of the slide. Do
not apply the brakes as that will cause further loss of control of the
car;
- Come to a complete stop or yield the
right of way when approaching an intersection in case any vehicles coming
from other directions lose control of their vehicles while trying to stop.
- If you have a cellular phone, take it
with you. You can contact the Highway Patrol statewide by calling *HP
(*47) or call law enforcement by dialing 911. But please don't call 911 to
check on road conditions. That line must be kept open for emergencies.
For real-time travel
information at any time, call 511, visit www.ncdot.gov/travel
or follow NCDOT on Twitter at
www.ncdot.gov/travel/twitter. Another option is NCDOT Mobile, a
phone-friendly version of the NCDOT website. To access it, type "m.ncdot.gov" into the browser of your smartphone.
Then, bookmark it to save for future reference.
You can also get
emergency information from the N.C. Department of Public Safety at http://readync.org, and download the ReadyNC app
to help you prepare for everything from road conditions to severe storms
on a daily basis. It is available for free in the AppStore for
iPhones and Google Play for Android devices.
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