You might see snow plows on the road on Tuesday. Don’t panic, it’s just practice. Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) has a Winter Weather Strike Team that’s made up of field personnel from ARDOT’s statewide maintenance crews. They are scheduled to conduct a training exercise in the central Arkansas area from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, November 4.
Read more below.
The drill will consist of training drivers, performing equipment checks, road-testing snow plow trucks, and communicating with ARDOT’s Emergency Operations Center which will be activated for the event.
“It is our job to keep our roadways safe, and we take that responsibility seriously,” Michael Kelly, ARDOT Staff Maintenance Engineer, who serves as ARDOT’s Emergency Management Liaison Officer, said. “This exercise better prepares us for winter weather events by helping us to see our strengths and areas that need improvement.”
During an actual winter weather event, the Winter Weather Strike Team supplements other ARDOT maintenance forces by clearing snow and ice from interstates and highways during 24-hour operations across Arkansas. They communicate roadway conditions directly to the Maintenance Division, located at ARDOT’s Central Office in Little Rock.
In preparation for winter weather, ARDOT stores approximately 75,000 cubic yards of salt at locations across the State. Salt storage facilities are refilled during the summer months so that they are fully stocked at the beginning of the winter season.
ARDOT has approximately 700 snowplows across the State at County Maintenance Headquarters and District Offices.
According to Deric Wyatt, ARDOT State Maintenance Engineer, as ARDOT continues to look for ways to be more efficient and effective during winter weather operations, technology has played a bigger role.
“Technology helps us document our activities and provide real-time data and feedback to make needed changes in a more timely manner, keeping traffic moving and clearing our roadways as quickly as possible,” Wyatt said.
That technology includes Weather Sensor Stations that are mounted on approximately 36 bridge structures across the State. The stations report air temperature, pavement temperature, and presence of moisture (liquid or frozen) on bridge decks and pavements.
ARDOT also has 484 live traffic cameras across the State for the public to see current road conditions through the IDriveArkansas.com website and app. Changes in road conditions are updated every two hours until the route is clear.
In addition to the Winter Weather Strike Team training exercise, ARDOT approaches winter weather proactively throughout the year by holding regular preparedness meetings and conducting tests of the winter weather features on IDriveArkansas.com.
