DOT prepares for winter weather

With the first Winter Weather advisory in effect this week, the Department of Transportation is preparing for dangerous driving conditions.

Two to five inches of snow fell on wet roads at higher elevations in the early hours this morning, signaling the inevitable start of the winter season.

Because of this, DOT has put its winter schedule into effect, including the 'Maintenance Decision Support System'.

This system includes monitors attached to DOT trucks that measure pavement temperature, as well as software that can pinpoint where high priority roads need to be maintained.

Maintenance Director for the Department of Transportation, Dan Schacher, suggests that people take their time when conditions are potentially dangerous.

He also told us what DOT is doing, now, to help keep the roads safe.

Dan Schacher; DOT Maintenance Director>>: "Right now we've put our winter schedule into effect, so we have people on the night shift and day shift. Our crews are on now seven days a week for the rest of the winter. We do have crews out there that are monitoring the situation; we also have our maintenance decision support system up on the screen behind us helping to make decisions as to how to allocate our resources if and when we do apply some kind of chemical to help with the freezing and ice on the roads, and exactly where we're going to send our plows and our resources out right now to attack the snow that is falling."