ZANESVILLE, Ohio – As the autumn leaves fall, Ohioans instinctively know that snowflakes will be falling in the weeks to come.
The Ohio Department of Transportation is working vigilantly to prepare snow removal equipment for the season at hand.
ODOT District 5 Public Information Officer Morgan Overbey explained some of the processes mechanics are performing to be ready for that first snowfall.
“Our mechanics are doing a 150 point checks on all of our snowplows, plow-blades, salt spinners, all the equipment related to snow and ice season has to get checked. And the reason that we do that is if anything needs repaired at this point in time we can do that before the first snow flies.”
Last winter, ODOT crews drove more than 7 million miles across the state, removing snow and ice. This year ODOT has more that 120,000 tons of salt prepared to spread across Central Ohio’s roadways.
“It’s always our goal to have primary routes such as I-70, 40, 22, that sort of thing fully cleared and ready to go after a snow and ice event has ended. So that actually when the snow stops, it stops snowing. Two hours after an event it’s our goal to have the road clear and passable. And then some of those more rural state routes, it’s our goal to have them clear and passable four hours after an event stops.”
Last year, ODOT District 5 was rated 99 percent effective as they implemented a procedure that proved to be very effective in dealing with the Interstate 70 construction and plan to clear Muskingum County roads with the same procedures this year.