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With freezing rain on the way, will the highways be ready?

With freezing rain on the way, will the highways be ready?
12/1 HIGHWAYS
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TULSA, Okla. — Green Country is preparing for the next round of winter weather.

After a black ice event kicked off the month of December, 2 News reached out to the agencies tasked with treating the roads to see if their planning to do anything differently.

WATCH: Cold front moves in

Cold Front Moves In

The City of Tulsa said they felt their approach Monday worked — getting crews in early and addressing city roads before any problems could start.

That's what they plan to do again.

"While current forecasts indicate snowfall/winter precipitation totals will likely remain light, City crews will report at midnight tonight to treat elevated surfaces such as bridges, hills and overpasses with brine (salt/water mixture) to help prevent freezing," the city said in a statement.

No major issues were reported on city streets with the first round of winter weather.

The highways, though, were a different story.

“The highways through the city are the ODOT’s responsibility," said Street Maintenance Manager Tim McCorkell. "We do not address those, but any city street we have a problem, we will be on top of it.”

Why were Tulsa’s highways not pretreated ahead of black ice event?

Local News

Why were Tulsa’s highways not pretreated ahead of black ice event?

Erin Christy

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation told us earlier this week they didn't pre-treat any of their roads.

EMSA reported that the number of accidents on Monday — 35 by 11 AM — is eight times higher than usual.

ODOT declined an interview request to talk about what they planned to differently. Instead — they shared an updated plan via a statement.

"Oklahoma Department of Transportation crews have been actively preparing since Tuesday for the next round of forecasted winter weather," the release said. "The department is committed to supporting the state’s more than 30,000 lane miles of roadway ahead of inclement weather, and crews will remain on duty until highways are clear."

Ahead of Thursday, ODOT said their crews are on standby, with supervisors actively monitoring conditions.

They said bridges and roadway surfaces have already been pretreated with brine. Their trucks are also at the ready if they need to go out with additional salt mixtures to alleviate ice on the pavement.

Of their 500 multi-use trucks spread across Oklahoma, 25 will be in the Tulsa area.


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