WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – With winter weather in the forecast, Winston-Salem officials have activated a plan to prepare the city’s roadways.
Earlier this week, city crews practiced driving brine trucks to ensure they were ready to respond. According to Field Operations Director Keith Huff, this training is crucial for effectively serving the community.
On Thursday, crews began pretreating critical areas, focusing on bridges and overpasses. “The city owns, operates and maintains 1,250 lane miles of road,” Huff explained. “We obviously can’t treat all that road network with brine, so we will get the critical spots … the areas that are most susceptible to be slick.”
Huff added that if conditions worsen, the city will enter an “active phase” by deploying salt trucks to all quadrants of the city to address slick spots as they develop. Concurrently, North Carolina Department of Transportation crews were also out on Thursday, brining state-maintained roadways and ramps in District 9.
Emergency Management Director August Vernon urged residents to be prepared and to rely on credible sources for weather information. He cautioned against misinformation on social media, which often highlights worst-case scenarios.
“When forecasters are putting out their reports… they will do three scenarios: the most likely scenario, the best-case scenario and the worst-case scenario,” Vernon said. “What is happening is people taking that worst-case scenario, and that’s what they’re posting.”
For those who must travel, Vernon emphasized the importance of driving cautiously. He advised drivers to reduce speed, increase the distance between vehicles, and be particularly careful around emergency responders and city crews working on the roads.
In anticipation of hazardous morning road conditions, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools will be closed on Friday. The district announced that it will be a traditional snow day with no remote learning, and all student activities are canceled.
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