The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
ODOT readies trucks for winter
Inspections completed on Halloween for plow season
Ohio’s snow plows are ready to hit the roads to clear Lorain County’s state highways.
The Lorain County station of the Ohio Department of Transportation held its annual winter readiness event on Oct. 31.
The day included inspections of the 18 snowplows, pickup trucks and implements used to clear the snow from 510.11 lane miles of state and federal highways in Lorain County.
The dry run almost turned into a wet run when a midmorning flurry dropped tiny flecks of ice on the garage in Oberlin.
“Those are little snowflakes falling down,” said Crystal Neelon, ODOT public information officer. “We’re ready, though.”
The threat of snow turned out to be just a Halloween scare, so instead of hitting the road, the trucks stayed in line for the annual checks.
The trucks came into the garage two at a time for workers to review 150 items ranging from fire extinguishers to lights to engines to plow blades.
The trucks generally carry bins for rock salt and tanks for brine sprayed on the rock salt as spreads off the back of the truck. Combining the two activates the salt to make it more effective melting snow and ice, Neelon said.
In Lorain County, the trucks work on interstate highways, U.S. routes and state routes within villages and townships. Some of the more recognizable roadways include Interstate 90 and U.S. Route 20 and State Routes 2, 511, 58, 113, 301, 254 and 83.
Lorain County is part of ODOT’s District 3, with Ashland, Crawford, Huron, Medina, Richland and Wayne counties. Each one has a designated inspection day during the fall, Neelon said.
The Lorain County garage has a salt dome capable of holding 6,000 tons. The program includes reviews of ODOT implements including the frontend loader used to scoop up the salt into the truck beds, and the other ODOT vehicles based in Oberlin.
Last year, Lorain County ODOT drivers drove 129,181 miles removing snow and ice. They used 10,215 tons of salt and 128,321 gallons of liquid deicers.
The salt use was less than the average of 10,765 tons a season spread in the county.
The county drivers rotate in 12-hour shifts and will work 24 hours a day, seven days a week if needed during heavy snowfall, Neelon said.
Around Ohio, ODOT has 1,629 plow trucks, more than 3,000 drivers and 262 mechanics.
The state plows last year drove more than 6.86 million miles — comparable to 275 trips around the planet — clearing snow and pretreating roads. They used 600,451 tons of salt and more than 12.05 million gallons of liquid deicers on 43,479 miles of roadway.
The state transportation agency has adopted the slogan: “Ice & Snow … Take It Slow.”
Neelon asked drivers to slow down in bad weather and give the ODOT plows room to operate.
During bad weather, the plows generally move slower than passenger cars and trucks around them, so drivers should be alert when traveling near the snowplows. Chances are the roads ahead of plows are worse than then roads behind them, Neelon said.
ODOT plows were struck 35 times in 2016. The trucks are heavy duty machinery, so the collisions may be bad for car drivers, which is why the state drivers want to be careful for other motorists, Neelon said.