Road crews in southeastern Kentucky could have a new weapon in their snow and ice fighting arsenal this winter. State transportation officials met with workers recently to outline this year’s snow removal strategy.
Les Dixon, from the Manchester district office, says a new salt product called ‘clear lane’ is being considered.
“It’s ideal for trouble spots, bridges, ramps and can be used on all routes. The only thing is it requires separate storage,” said Dixon.
With this salt, he says there’s no need to pretreat pavement. Road crew members recently got a chance to hear from National Weather Service meteorologist Tony Edwards. Dixon says the weather specialist expects a relatively normal winter period.
“Just a basic winter, but when we had a basic winter in 1993, that’s when we had the big blizzard too. So, something could creep up on us anyway,” said Edwards.
Dixon says there's a fleet of some 72 snow and ice removal trucks prepared to treat roads in eight Kentucky Counties. He says the new sale product requires separate storage, which could prove to be a barrier for some counties.