Dallas Weather: TxDOT begins pretreating North Texas roads ahead of wintry weather
DALLAS - TxDOT’s Fort Worth district is already treating the highways and interstates in North Texas and expects to be finished by Thursday.
The Dallas district says it plans to begin its preparations on Friday.
TxDOT's Fort Worth spokesman says the department has been closely monitoring the weather forecasts. And since brine is good for a week, they took the proactive approach of treating the roads Wednesday.
The western part of the metroplex also usually gets hit first and hardest with winter weather.
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TxDOT Spokesman Val Lopez says it is important to be proactive when it comes to treating roadways, even if the possibility of icy conditions in this case is low.
"We know that there's a chance of winter weather rolling in late this week and early next week. And so based on the information, we've sent crews out today to pretreat parts of our roadway with brine," he said. "What we're trying to do we're trying to prevent ice from bonding onto the roadway. Ice is very different than, let's say, snow. Those are manageable. You can push those off the roadway. Ice is very heavy, very dense. Once it bonds, it becomes difficult to remove. And that's what we're trying to prevent with our pretreatment."
Lopez says the brine is durable and will hold up through Sunday night and Monday morning, the time frame where the current forecast has a slight chance for wintry precipitation is his Fort Worth district.
"The spray itself is relatively durable. You'll be able to see as it it's dried stripes in the roadway," he said. "You very much want to spray it on there and let it dry. Because once it's dry, it will stay on there until that winter precipitation falls."
The focus for this potential event is on bridges and overpasses.
The TxDOT Dallas district does not plan to begin pretreating operations until Friday.
ERCOT issues Weather Watch for next week; freezing temperatures forecasted
With freezing temperatures in the forecast, ERCOT has issued a Weather Watch for multiple days next week. The power grid operator says grid conditions are still expected to be normal.
Lopez says even with the treated roads, if there is any freezing rain and given the bitter cold temperatures in the forecast, it is still better for people to stay off the roads if they can on MLK Day.
"We're hoping that people do stay at home if they're given the option. That should be for many people, and of course the schools will be closed as well. So that's a good excuse to stay at home and enjoy the company of your children," he said.
The city of Dallas has a new policy to pretreat roads before icy weather.
FOX 4 reached out to the city of Dallas and Fort Worth to see if they have decided when to treat city streets.
AAA is reminding drivers that dead batteries are one of its top service calls when cold weather hits. So if your battery is over three years old, you may want to have it checked out now.