Highway Crews Set To Pre-Treat Roads Today

Kentucky Highway Crews are preparing to Pre-Treat roads as snow is expected over the next couple of days.

Crews will be gearing up to start pre-treating in the Ohio River border counties and a few selected areas, to prepare for an approaching winter system that could drop up to an inch of snow across the region.

While the present forecast is only indicating up to about one inch of snow arriving on Thursday, crews will be pre-treating through the day on Wednesday in the northernmost counties.

Motorists should be alert for slow moving brine trucks out and about on Wednesday as highway crews go about their pre-treating efforts.  Appropriate caution is required anytime you encounter a brine truck.

Tanker trucks will be spraying brine that dries to leave a fine powder of salt on the roadway driving surface.  The powdered salt is then available to be immediately activated to help improve driving conditions in the early hours of a winter snow and ice event.  It also serves to keep the snow and ice from bonding to the pavement, making it easier for plows to remove snow from the roadway once it accumulates.

Pre-treating has a fairly specific set of requirements.   Kentucky Highway crews do not pre-treat if there is substantial rain in the forecast prior to the start of snow as the rain would wash away any benefits of the material.  They also generally do not pre-treat when temperatures are below about 16 to 18 degrees Fahrenheit as low temperatures would create an opportunity for the brine to flash freeze and create slick spots when it hits the road surface.

The counties expected to be pre-treated include Christian, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Hancock, Daviess, Henderson, McLean, Hopkins, Caldwell, Webster, and Union Counties.

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