After a rainy day, ODOT ready to attack possibly icy roads

COLUMBUS (WCMH) — One of the things to watch out for Saturday night into Sunday with the dropping temperatures are possibly slick roads.

Ohio Department of Transportation crews were out overnight and early Saturday morning, prepping the roads as best they could to prevent icy spots.

With temperatures above freezing most of the day Saturday, the water on the ground remained just that, water.

When the temperatures drop, however, ODOT will be keeping an eye out for frozen spots.

An ODOT spokesperson said if they determine there is not enough time for the roads to dry before the temperatures fall, crews are ready to go to get to work.

While ODOT was able to pretreat roads Friday, the brine used to do so is ineffective if the roads are wet because it would have washed away.

If the roads do freeze, ODOT will go straight to using salt.

“Ice is the biggest challenge for ODOT,” said Brooke Ebersole, public information officer of ODOT Columbus. “The only tool we have here at ODOT to combat ice is salt and when we put salt down and it’s a mixture of freezing rain and regular rain, that liquid washes the salt off the road, so then we have to go back again throughout the night and continue to re-salt and hope that we can keep those roads wet and not slick.”

One woman on her way back to Mount Vernon after Saturday’s Blue Jackets game was expecting the roads to be worse, but was pleasantly surprised.

“It’s been wet but not slick,” said Angie Quigg. “It’s just been rainy if anything. First thing this morning there was a little bit of slushiness but it’s pretty much dried up, gone away.”

If you do have to be out driving when it’s colder, it’s always good to remind yourself that when something looks wet, with the below-freezing temperatures, it could very well be frozen, so take it slow.