Ice and snow are in the mix this weekend in North Texas.
Video transcript
– – Street crews worked all day and into that night actually pretreating the streets. Tonight our Caroline Vandergriff spoke to some workers about keeping the highways in North Texas as safe as possible.
CAROLINE VANDERGRIFF: Thursday’s fatal buildup on I-35W in Fort Worth demonstrated how dangerous freezing temperatures and rainfall can be.
RYAN CHANEY: I knew within a few seconds as soon as I got on the bridge that I was on a solid layer of very thin ice.
CAROLINE VANDERGRIFF: That’s why crews across North Texas worked around the clock.
– – All hands are on deck …
CAROLINE VANDERGRIFF: Put brine on the streets hoping winter weather won’t stick.
– – We pay special attention to these bridges, overpasses, these ramps. Here’s why. They tend to freeze first during a snow event, an ice event.
CAROLINE VANDERGRIFF: In addition to the trucks spraying the brine or spreading sand, dozens of snow plows are also ready to hit the road.
MICHAEL REY: When it builds up, we will remove it from the pavement with our snow plows and allow ourselves to pull back a then clean surface.
CAROLINE VANDERGRIFF: NTTA even has sensors on its streets that read the surface temperature and indicate if ice is building up. Then they can quickly use trucks to address problem areas.
MICHAEL REY: We will do everything humanly possible to combat this threat, ice and precipitation.
CAROLINE VANDERGRIFF: But the crews also need your help. TxDOT says that despite all of their proactive measures, some ice can still build up in the event of unpredictable weather.
– – Here’s my all-time favorite: drive within the conditions, not the speed limit.
CAROLINE VANDERGRIFF: If you absolutely must get out this weekend, give yourself plenty of time to get where you want to go. Drive slowly and increase the distance between your car and other cars on the road. But the crews say the best and safest thing to do is just stay home. Caroline Vandergriff, CBS11 News.
