ODOT Prepares for the Snow and Ice Season Ahead

The winter season is slowly approaching and the Ohio Department of Transportation is preparing itself accordingly.

ODOT held its Annual Operational Readiness Event this morning to begin their fine-tuning operations. This will help to ensure every snow plow, truck and spreader is prepared to hit the roads when the winter season begins. Muskingum County Manager, Phil Valentine discussed what their Winter Readiness Event entails.

"Annually we have a Winter Readiness Day, we go through all of our trucks, 150 point inspection and we have our loaders, our trucks, we get everything hooked up and make sure everything is working properly. We work amongst the district and bring a couple mechanics in to look over the trucks to see if they have any problems"

The department of transportation would like to remind drivers of their flashing green lights when driving this winter.

"State wide, you should see the green emerald lights, we like it because it helps identify us from some other emergency personnel. Basically, the public should know when they see the green lights that its us, as they approach our trucks, understand that we have to move at a slower speed that we get the effectiveness of the salt hitting the road."

In Muskingum County alone there are 653 miles of road to take care of with 24 snow plows and 39 drivers.