With salt stockpiled and snow removal priority routes established, Kentucky Department of Highways District 9 crews are ready for winter weather duty.
At this time, District 9 has more than 20,000 tons of salt and about 75 snow plows, salt spreaders and other equipment on hand to keep 2,000 miles of state roads in Bath, Boyd, Carter, Elliott, Fleming, Greenup, Lewis, Mason, Nicholas and Rowan counties, passable during inclement weather.
“We take snow and ice response very seriously,” Chief District Engineer Bart Bryant said. “Highway safety is an essential function of the Transportation Cabinet, and our highway crews are prepared to meet that mandate by keeping our roads as safe as possible during bad weather.”
When bad weather hits, state highway crews are assigned 12-hour shifts to plow and treat roads using a priority system based on the amount and nature of traffic within each individual county.
Priority A routes include major routes and those most heavily-traveled such as interstates, which receive the highest priority for snow-clearing efforts. Priority B routes include other important, but lesser-traveled state routes. Other roads are Priority C.
While it’s the Transportation Cabinet’s goal to treat all routes within eight hours of a routine winter storm event – dependent upon the severity of the storm – higher-priority routes are treated more frequently.
Throughout snow season, which runs from October to March each year, highway response teams across Kentucky serve weekly on-call rotations. The teams monitor weather reports when snow is in the forecast and determine when to activate the state’s arsenal of snow-fighting equipment, including more than 1,000 snow plows.
Motorists are reminded to give a wide berth to plows, salt trucks and other snow-clearing heavy equipment. To be effective in dispersing de-icing material, trucks tend to travel at a slower speed. Also, snow plows may create a snow cloud which can cause a white out or zero visibility condition, so keep a safe distance away from the trucks.
Bath County: Priority A routes include Interstate 64, US 60, KY 11 and portions of KY 36 at Owingsville and near the Nicholas County line. Priority B routes are KY 36, KY 111, KY 211 south of Salt Lick, KY 965 in the Preston area, and KY 1325. Other routes are Priority C.
Boyd County: Priority A routes include Interstate 64, US 60, US 23 and portions of KY 180 and KY 67. Priority B routes are KY 3, KY 5, KY 168, KY 538, KY 766, KY 1134, KY 1012, KY 3294, KY 3291 and portions of KY 854. Other routes are Priority C.
Carter County: Priority A routes include Interstate 64, US 60, KY 9, KY 1 north of Grayson, KY 7 south of Grayson and KY 2 at Olive Hill. Priority B routes include remaining sections of KY 1, KY 7, KY 2, KY 174, KY 182 and KY 1947. Other routes are Priority C.
Elliott County: Priority A routes include KY 7, KY 173 and a portion of KY 32 through and east of Sandy Hook. Priority B routes are KY 32, KY 486, KY 719, KY 702, KY 1620 and a portion of KY 504. Other routes are Priority C.
Fleming County: Priority A routes include US 68, KY 11, KY 32 east of Elizaville, KY 32, the Flemingsburg Bypass, and KY 165. Priority B routes are KY 32, KY 57, KY 170, KY 111, KY 559, and portions of KY 344 and KY 158. Other routes are Priority C.
Greenup County: Priority A routes include US 23, KY 1, KY 8, KY 10, KY 67, KY 827, KY 693, KY 750, KY 1093, KY 1725, the northern half of KY 7 and a portion of KY 207. Priority B routes are KY 2, KY 7, KY 207, KY 503, KY 244, KY 2433, KY 1458, KY 2541, KY 410 and KY 3105. Other routes are Priority C.
Lewis County: Priority A routes include KY 9/10 (AA Highway), KY 59 and KY 8 east of Vanceburg. Priority B routes are KY 57, KY 10 through Tollesboro, KY 344, KY 559, KY 377 and KY 3020. Other routes are Priority C.
Mason County: Priority A routes include US 68, US 62 at Maysville, KY 8, KY 9, KY 10 (at Germantown and Maysville), KY 11, KY 324 (east of US 68) and KY 2513. Priority B routes are US 62, KY 10, KY 324, KY 1448, KY 1449, KY 3056 and KY 3170. Other routes are Priority C.
Nicholas County: Priority A routes include US 68, KY 36 and KY 32 at and west of Carlisle. Priority B routes are KY 13 and KY 32. Other routes are Priority C.
Rowan County: Priority A routes include Interstate 64, US 60, KY 519, KY 32 from the Fleming County line to near Elliottville and KY 173. Priority B routes are KY 32, KY 174, KY 377, KY 801, KY 158 and KY 1274. Other routes are Priority C.
Story provided by the Kentucky Department of Transportation
