With freezing precipitation expected to spread across northeast Kentucky overnight, Kentucky Department of Highways District 9 personnel will remain on alert for winter weather duty.
Salt truck crews in Bath, Boyd, Carter, Elliott, Fleming, Greenup, Lewis, Mason, Nicholas and Rowan counties are scheduled to report for duty at 4 a.m. Friday, or earlier depending upon weather conditions.
District snow response teams will monitor weather tonight into Friday morning, and will call out snow plows and salt trucks as necessary. Due to wet road conditions, pretreatment of roadways is not possible.
The National Weather Service expects rain changing to snow overnight and lows in the mid to upper 20s, with some snow accumulation possible by morning.
Motorists should be prepared for a snowy commute Friday morning, and should remember to slow down, buckle up and use extra caution when driving in snow or during any winter weather event.
Give yourself a “space cushion” for maneuverability by maintaining a safe distance of at least 500 feet between vehicles, and be mindful of slow-moving snow plows. And, remember that bridges and overpasses can freeze before roadways.
During winter weather, District 9's highway crews work 12-hour shifts using 75 snow plows to keep roadways in the best possible condition by plowing or salting roads as needed based on a priority-route system that ranks roadways by amount of traffic.
Kentucky traffic and travel information is available by dialing 511 or online at: http://www.511.ky.gov
(story provided by Kentucky Transportation Cabinet)
