Snow, frigid temperatures numb Middle Tennessee
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Beginning at 8 p.m. Wednesday night, the department’s three salt spreaders began treating county roads. They continued until about 1:30 a.m., when temperatures became too cold for the salt to be effective.
The operation began again early yesterday and continued with plowing throughout the day. In all, approximately 80 tons of salt were spread.
Assistant road superintendent Levie Glenn said the highway department stays well prepared for inclement weather. He said the department likes to keep between 80 and 100 tons of salt on hand at all times, adding he will have to travel to Nashville today to pick up salt to replace that used over the past couple of days.
Of Warren County’s close to 900 miles of road, he said only 150 to 200 miles of that will get salted during and after a snow fall, with main roads, steep hills and bridges being the department’s top priorities.
“We don’t have the funds available to salt all the roads, but we try to do as much as humanly possible with what we have,” said Glenn, who noted at the same time they do not like to use too much salt, as it hurts the roads by causing pot holes.
The cost of making slick, snowy roads safer for county motorists can be a chilling revelation. Glenn estimated that with labor (overtime for 16 employees), fuel, and wear and tear on the vehicles, it costs the highway department between $400 and $500 an hour to salt and plow county roads.
This figure does not include the price of the salt, which he said costs $38 a ton. If 80 tons were used, the cost of the salt alone would be $3,040.
While the highway department does its part to keep the roadways safe during inclement weather, Glenn said an equally important safety effort should be made by the motorists themselves.
“The driving public plays a big part. Drivers need to take extra caution when driving on slick roads,” said Glenn. “The most important thing they can do is learn to go slower and stay off their brakes. It also helps not to tailgate and to downshift while driving, or if in an automatic, to drive in D1 or D2.”
McMinnville Public Works Director Bill Brock reported crews using about 21 tons of salt on city roads. Crews began working around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, also working into yesterday morning.
City crews normally spread salt on the main roads first, move on to hills and intersections, and then move on to all areas, Brock said. He added preparations were under way to work late yesterday afternoon, break for rush hour and potentially work into last night.
Additionally, Brock noted garbage pick up was delayed yesterday morning due to the slick conditions, but crews began their routes about noon. Anyone who did not have their trash picked up yesterday should leave their bins out and trash will be picked up today and Saturday, if necessary, he added.
-Amy Satterwhite contributed to this report.