Allentown road crews preparing for expected big winter storm
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- The first winter storm of the season in the Philadelphia area is just about here, and it's triggered a NEXT Weather Alert. Road crews in the region are busy preparing to keep drivers safe during Thursday morning's commute.
Crews in Allentown have been preparing and pre-treating roads for the past two days.
Road crews in Allentown have been out since Tuesday pretreating the roads ahead of a wintry mix Thursday. Salt sheds are full, and the public works department tells me it’s ready for our first taste of Winter weather. @CBSPhiladelphia @AndrewKozakTV @katebilo pic.twitter.com/Zs8oyEsOyP
— Ryan Hughes (@HughesCBS3) December 14, 2022
It's the region's first real taste of winter weather and both PennDOT and the City of Allentown want to ensure everyone is prepared.
"We have 10 trucks that are currently out there right now pre-treating our roadways," Mark Shahda, director of public works in Allentown, said.
A CBS Philadelphia photojournalist hopped in as Allentown's public works department circled the city Wednesday. Drivers pretreated roads with salt brine before a wintry mix creates potentially dangerous travel conditions.
"We're priming the streets to make it easy on us," Allentown Public Works driver Porfirio Roman said, "so when it does hit, we can get the traffic going."
The salt sheds are fully stocked and ready, and travel warnings are already posted on the Northeast Extension ahead of the storm.
"We are very concerned about the winds and also the ice," Ron Young with PennDOT said. "So, we want motorists to realize that if you're going out roads may look wet, but they might have a bit of ice on them."
PennDOT says it's also been pre-treating roads in the Lehigh Valley and part of the Poconos.
With this being the first storm of the season, PennDOT wants to make sure no one is caught off guard.
"Tomorrow they will be, depending on road and air temperatures, they will be putting down materials or plowing if we have enough to plow," Young said. "Usually you need about two inches or more."
PennDOT says it's closely monitoring this storm and crews will start 12-hour shifts Thursday morning.
The road crews are reminding drivers they need to take their time and take it slow, especially with this storm with some roads potentially covered in ice.