Now that temperatures are dropping, INDOT’s months of planning will be set into motion today through Saturday during Winter Weather Preparedness Week.
This week’s objectives are focused on safe winter driving, implementing new plow equipment in Indiana, repairing cold-weather damages and keeping a high supply of salt in stock, according to a news release from the INDOT.
Last winter, INDOT plow drivers worked a cumulative 526,000 hours to clear roads, according to the release. This is equivalent to almost 44,000 12-hour shifts, and drivers would work 12- to 16-hour shifts each day.
As far as personal driving precautions are concerned, INDOT encourages safety first.
“INDOT urges drivers to dust off their winter driving habits before snow or ice leads to a crash or slide off,” INDOT Commissioner Karl Browning said in the release. “This means planning extra travel time and allowing a safe distance between cars, especially our plow trucks. Remember, if the roads are blocked, plows cannot get through.”
INDOT warns drivers to refrain from attempting to pass tow plows if all lanes are blocked and to keep a safe distance behind plows.
“Road conditions are always better behind a plow at work than in front,” the release said.
INDOT also reports that its plow trucks logged almost 8.8 million miles in total last winter — the same distance as 353 trips around the earth or 18 round trips to the moon, according to the release.
INDOT is also in the process of hiring more plow drivers for this winter.
Hiring and training new drivers is one of its goals for Winter Weather Preparedness Week.
Due to the amount of snow in Indiana last year, there was also more highway damage than usual.
“Statewide, INDOT invested 183,000 man hours and nearly 14,000 tons of asphalt as part of the pothole blitz announced in February by Gov. Mike Pence,” the release read.
During the warmer months, INDOT employees worked to repair damaged roadways.
They reprioritize more than $40 million of its state and federal construction program budget for those repairs statewide.
There was a significant rise in the amount of salt needed last winter, too. Last winter, INDOT used 437,000 tons of granular salt and 5.1 million gallons of salt brine to clear the slick Indiana ?interstates.
In the past five years, the average had been 291,000 tons of salt and 3.4 million gallons of salt brine, according to the release.
There are already 220,000 tons of salt ready for this ?winter.
Due to the increased demand for salt last year, competition between suppliers has decreased and prices have gone up by 57 percent, according to the release.
“A recent consumer survey found that Hoosiers’ top priorities for INDOT are maintaining our existing roads and bridges and removing snow and ice,” Browning said in the release. “INDOT is focusing our resources to ensure that we have the manpower, equipment and materials needed to make state highways as safe as possible.”
Anicka Slachta
