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ODOT inspects equipment
CANFIELD
Although pumpkins and cornstalks adorn homes now, the Ohio Department of Transportation already is preparing for the season of wreaths and snowmen.
ODOT District 4, which encompasses Mahoning, Trumbull, Ashtabula, Portage, Summit and Stark counties, had a “dry run” Wednesday morning and tested equipment for winter weather at its Canfield garage.
The fall preparation for snowy weather isn’t too soon, according to the National Weather Service.
The service’s climate data shows that the earliest recorded snowfall in Youngstown was Oct. 2, 2003. Last year, the first snow fell on Oct. 15 and .2 inches was recorded.
The counties in District 4 account for 10,000 lane miles of 40,000 maintained throughout the state, said Justin Chesnic, the district’s spokesman.
He added that the district also is second in the state for average snowfall with 81 inches. ODOT District 12, which includes Cuyahoga and Geauga counties, is first with 88.4 inches of snow on average.
Last year, District 4 used more than 107,000 tons of salt. In Mahoning County, about 16,000 tons were used in 2009, and ODOT has appropriated 22,000 tons to be used in the county this year. The current cost for salt is about $50 per ton, Chesnic said.
Another material ODOT will use this year is beet juice.
“We’re going back to the beet juice, which we experimented with a few years ago,” Chesnic said. “It doesn’t freeze as easily, and it’s stickier. It will be used in high-traffic areas such as Interstates 90 and 80.”
The beet-and-salt mixture will leave a brown-red color on the road and will wash off of vehicles just like salt, Chesnic said.
ODOT also is telling motorists: “Don’t crowd the plow.”
“If you’re going to pass a snow plow, give yourself enough room to do so,” said Christine Myers, ODOT spokeswoman. “Our drivers do have a limited field of vision in the trucks, and the general rule applies that if truck drivers cannot see your vehicle, then they don’t know you’re there.”