Super Bowl Ice Memories Has TxDOT Pre-Treating Roads
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NORTH TEXAS (CBS 11 NEWS) - Think football championship in Arlington, winter weather and the 2011 arctic blast dumped snow and ice on North Texas.
Traffic was paralyzed stranding fans in either Dallas or Fort Worth. And the ice completely froze sales for Arlington businesses like Airways Hamburgers, across from AT&T Stadium.
"We was expecting to be busy a good two, three weeks before during and after," said restaurant employee Taylor Pollock. "That ice just caused all that to end."
With the potential for winter weather this weekend, before the college national football championship, there are signs the preparation game plan has changed.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is more aggressive pre-treating roads than ever before. And it has new brining equipment already treating the highways and bridges between Dallas and Fort Worth. They'll continue the treatments through the weekend and be ready with de-icing chemicals and sand should it freeze.
Medstar has already begun making 911 calls from people out in the cold a priority, a lesson learned during ice events in 2011 and 2013.
They're the types of changes from 2011 that gives Pollock confidence there won't be a repeat of the Super Bowl ice surprise. "I feel good about that! I hope so! Really bring the business in better," he said.
Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck said he's confident they won't be surprised by a winter storm again.
"We had talked about the eventuality of that every time we had a meeting," he said of the 2011 storm. "But, none of us thought it was impossible. At least that type of nice event. That was a tenured event I believe. And no, I didn't think it would happen. But it did. And we should be prepared for it and we are this time."
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