ODOT trucks ready for upcoming storm

Van Wert independent/ODOT information

LIMA – The Ohio Department of Transportation District 1 is on full alert, with equipment and personnel ahead of the approaching winter storm that is expected to begin with freezing rain this evening.

“We have over 90 trucks across our eight-county district, which will be put into service beginning tonight,” Kirk Slusher, Ohio Department of Transportation District 1 deputy director, said on Monday. “Our crews will be out around the clock for the duration of the storm.”

ODOT District 1 includes Allen, Defiance, Hancock, Hardin, Paulding, Putnam, Van Wert and Wyandot counties.

State officials are concerned with a widespread icing event that is then expected to turn to snow. This unusual event – predicted to be the largest and longest winter event this year – has the potential to impact power lines, causing outages and causing limbs to fall on roadways. Winds of 20 to 30 miles per hour are expected to cause drifting across roadways.

Locally, ODOT is preparing for the upcoming storm by pretreating roadways and readying trucks and all auxiliary equipment, such as graders, backhoes and bulldozers, in the event they are needed.

“We are preparing everything we have in our arsenal for this event and we ask the public’s cooperation with giving our drivers the room they need to operate,” said Slusher.

In addition, district personnel are testing auxiliary power generators to be sure all ODOT facilities remain operating in the event of a power failure.

Power outages could mean a loss of power to traffic signals and motorists are cautioned to abide by the Ohio Revised Code, which states that an inoperable traffic signal should be treated as a four-way stop.

“Do not assume you have the right-of-way,” Slusher noted. “All motorists are required to stop at a dark, inoperable signal.”

Drivers are also cautioned to take extra care on ramps, overpasses and bridges, as they tend to freeze first.

Buckeye Traffic, the state’s premier road and weather information site, is the best source for motorists to check travel conditions statewide. Log on to www.buckeyetraffic.org.