ODOT working to prepare roads before another round of winter weather

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOCO) — The Oklahoma Department of Transportation is gearing up for the next wave of winter weather and snow that starts Tuesday.

The state’s roads, however, are still not the greatest after the first round of snow, which is starting to get crunchier and more packed. But ODOT workers are prepping around the clock to try and keep the roads clear the rest of the week.

“All hands on deck until this is all over,” said Terri Angier, with ODOT.

Department officials said their 1,200 workers are working to keep Oklahoma roads as safe as possible.

“We are using a number of different things to try and work through this,” Angier said.

But because the conditions are so extreme for Oklahoma, they are having some struggles.

“The conditions keep changing and the crews have had a lot of challenges of things freezing up,” Angier said.

For example, salt doesn’t work on roads when temperatures get too cold, and diesel fuel keeps turning to gel in crews’ equipment.

“Tough. Very tough situation,” Angier said.

ODOT officials told KOCO 5 that they’ve relied on snowplows, but the wind and how powdery the snow was have caused problems.

“It’s just getting away from you as you try to clear it,” Angier said.

But they are adamant they are doing their best and roads are getting cleared.

“We prepared ahead of time,” Angier said.

Officials added that the fastest way to get the roads as clear as possible is to have very few drivers on the road.

“Make a lot of improvements on the road. It’s because drivers are staying home,” Angier said.