RALEIGH – The following are highlights from this week at the N.C. Department of Transportation. The stories below are also featured in
NCDOT Now, the department’s weekly newscast.
Winter Weather Prep
With the weather getting cooler across the state, the department’s county maintenance crews are checking supplies and inspecting equipment to get ready for potential winter storms.
Buncombe County workers conducted a dry run where crews familiarized themselves with snow routes and tested all equipment to ensure it was functioning properly. Over the next several weeks, all 100 North Carolina counties will conduct these drills to make sure crews and equipment are ready for winter.
To maintain 80,000 miles of roadways, the department has many pieces of equipment, including:
- 2,250 dump trucks with plows and salt or sand spreaders;
- 503 front-end loaders and backhoes; and
- 324 motor graders
As part of these drills, crews also assess the supplies of salt and sand which are essential during snow and ice removal. The department can store up to one hundred seventy thousand tons of salt and sand, equivalent to about 34,000 African elephants, and more than 1.5 million gallons of brine at its maintenance facilities statewide.
Brine is a salt water mixture that helps prevent snow and ice from freezing on major highways. Each county has its own brine-making equipment.
Halloween Pedestrian Safety
As daylight saving time approaches, and trick-or-treaters are out on Halloween, keep in mind some tips that can help keep pedestrians safe.
Drivers should remember to:
- Slow down and remove sunglasses at dusk;
- Adjust the rearview mirror to the night setting to avoid headlight glare; and
- Look for pedestrians, bicyclists and deer along the roadway.
Pedestrians need to:
- Avoid jaywalking and crossing between vehicles;
- Walk facing traffic to see oncoming vehicles; and
- Wear brightly colored clothing so drivers can see them.
Booze It & Lose It Campus Tour
The N.C. Governor’s Highway Safety Program will kick off the 2018 Halloween
Booze It & Lose It campaign with a statewide, five-day, campus tour of the Breath Alcohol Testing vehicle, also known as the bat mobile. It will make stops at universities around the state between now and Halloween day. Remember to pre-plan before partying – be smarter than that.