KYTC calls in crews before pair of winter weather systems

JACKSON, Ky. (WYMT) - In preparation for the chance of winter weather, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 10 is asking crews in all ten of its counties to report at midnight.

Crews are unable to pre-treat the roads since Monday night’s system is likely to start as rain. Crews will be on standby throughout the night, waiting for wintry weather.

“Part of the problem is that if it starts out as rain, we can’t pretreat, the rain would just wash that off, and it seems like every system that we have had this year has started out as rain first,” said KYTC District 10 PIO H.B. Elkins.

Elkins says this could affect folks who live away from main roads the most, since they usually get treated later.

“Some roads get treated sooner than others, and that’s just the nature of it, because of the amount of traffic that they carry and if you are on one of the priority C routes, you may not see your route treated until day break. So we just urge caution,” said Elkins.

A second round of cold weather is expected Tuesday night, into Wednesday morning, which could spell trouble for roads.

“It’s vital that the people listen to the safety messages and heed them, because we don’t want to see any tragedies out there, especially if they can be avoided,” he said.

Elkins urges common sense on the road, saying while you can get some traction on snow, no one gets traction on ice.

Copyright 2023 WYMT. All rights reserved.