CINCINNATI — After clearing the snow across the Tri-State, crews are now fighting a new battle on the roads: ice.
Temperatures are expected to drop overnight to a level that makes salt relatively ineffective, said Matt Marshall, Hamilton County Maintenance Operation Program Manager.
“When you start dipping below 20 degrees, it starts getting questionable whether that's all it's going to work and whether it's going to activate,” he said.
A solution is a solution: calcium chloride. When mixed with salt, it increases its effectiveness at lower temperatures.
“That’s really the only thing we have right now, to combat it,” Marshall said. “We are trying to do everything we can to be environmentally friendly. But we also have to keep public safety in mind.
“We can't split hairs when it comes to that kind of stuff,” he said.
The county had 48 crews on the roads today. They plowed thousands of miles throughout their 16-hour shift, which began at 11 p.m. Thursday. Marshall said the drivers are running on little sleep doing the best job they possibly can to make the words safer. The county does not have enough drivers to make more than one shift.
“Getting behind the wheel of a 40,000- or 50,000-pound vehicle with other cars on the road, ice on the road, throwing salt, dragging a plow: it’s anything but easy.”
As of late afternoon, most Hamilton County crews were at home getting some rest. They are on standby for road treatment activation.
“If we have to get out there and ice is a problem, we have to do whatever we can to handle it,” Marshall said.
Across the river, KYTC District 6 said crews will be patrolling their routes without slowing salt down, Public Information Officer Jake Ryle said. That will give them a better sense of what areas, if any, might need additional treatment overnight. The calcium chloride salt mixture will likely be used for spot treatment of slick areas.
Christine Hirth in Newtown knows that ice won’t just be a problem on the road, but on the sidewalk too. She spent the morning sweeping it away.
“If I don’t get some of this out of the way, it’s gonna be very bad,” said Hirth. “I’m putting salt under it.”
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