The Texas Department of Transportation has announced that crews will start pretreating bridges and overpasses in North Texas ahead of the cold front that will arrive in North Texas on Friday.
The Texas Department of Transportation has announced that crews will start pretreating bridges and overpasses in North Texas ahead of the cold front that will arrive in North Texas on Friday.
According to TxDOT, crews will only pretreat overpasses and bridges in Collin County, Denton County, Rockwall County, and north of Interstate 30 in Dallas County.
TxDOT said managed lanes will also be pretreated and will remain open.
The plans for pretreatment are subject to change, TxDOT said.
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The strong cold front, which will bring a chance of rain or sleet to North Texas, will move in on Thursday night. The front will cause temperatures to drop, and as temperatures drop, sleet or even snow will be possible on Friday.
Little to no accumulation is expected in North Texas. Widespread travel impacts are not expected, but some bridges and overpasses may become slick.
Val Lopez with TxDOT in Fort Worth said the spring-like weather Thursday is on our side.
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"The ground will do a good job of insulating that warmth in the main lanes," he said. "We will keep an eye on things and will be on duty Friday."
North Texas Tollway Authority, which has roads running through much of the winter weather advisory area of Collin and Denton counties, is also busy sending crews out to pretreat the roads.
"It just kind of goes with our theme of always being ready, we prepare for this. Like I've said, 365 days in the year -- we're always thinking about it in one way or another," said spokesperson Michael Rey of yet another winter weather event hitting North Texas in less than two months.
Like TxDOT, the focus for NTTA will be on overpasses.
"We all know that that's where the trouble starts. So we'll try to stop it first. The 70 degree temperatures today should help us quite a bit," said Rey. "What we'll do is we'll just put the brine throughout the day on Thursday and put the pretreatment down. Then that will sit in place and hopefully interact with whatever falls."
Rey also warns drivers to keep an eye out for road crews doing their job. He said during the last two winter weather events, NTTA received reports of incidents where drivers almost ran into road crews and their equipment.
He said the reports revealed those drivers were texting or looking at their phone and not paying attention.
"I've got to say I'm a little disappointed to see the behavior. We really urge people that when you get out on the roadways and in these conditions, you really have to have full attention," said Rey. "Really disappointed to see that was not the case. Please don't text and drive out there. At the very least, you've got to have full attention on the roadway and in any kind of slip condition. It doesn't matter if it truly becomes ice or if it's just a cold rain. You really have to pay attention to changing conditions."
