The North Texas Tollway Authority started 12-hour shifts at noon on Sunday preparing for potential freezing rain overnight.
On a gray, overcast afternoon that had the look of potential winter weather, North Texas roads are dry for now, and a bit crunchier.
Michael Rey with NTTA said 100 trucks began pre-treating roads with salt throughout the tollway system in Tarrant, Denton, Collin, and Dallas counties.
“We feel like interacting with pure salt will really do the trick for this one,” Rey said.
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Forecasts are calling for periods of cold rain that could transition to freezing rain overnight, especially in counties along the Red River.
“You know, it’s a very tricky forecast,” Rey said.
For the first winter event last weekend, NTTA put down a liquid brine ahead of what ended up as a coating of light flurries. However, with temperatures in North Texas staying cold all week, crews will not put any liquid on the roadways.
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“The trucks are loaded with solid salt, rather than a brine mixture,” Rey said. “That way we apply the salt right to the roadway, it interacts with whatever falls and keeps that in a liquid form.”
While salt should help driving conditions, AAA Texas said last week is a recent reminder of the three issues drivers encounter most often.
“Dead batteries because the cold weather really wreaks havoc on your battery,” Daniel Armbruster with AAA Texas said. “Flat tires because cold air takes away the air pressure and people needing to be pulled out of the ditch because they were going too fast.”
NTTA said whatever falls, salt will help keep it in liquid form on the roads and provide better traction for drivers who are out overnight and into the early morning hours
“Any event of this type presents a challenge driving,” Rey said. “There’s nothing wrong with slowing down – you’ll still get there – there’s not that many people out.”
