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Franklin County public works to pretreat roads ahead of weekend storm; crews report one truck short
Summary
County public works staff told commissioners they are pretreating roads and staging plows ahead of a forecast winter storm; staff said average county snowfall is expected around 7 inches (range 3''10), pretreatment uses a calcium chloride brine, and three trucks are currently out of service with two being repaired.
Franklin County public works staff briefed commissioners on preparations for an approaching winter storm during the Jan. 2 meeting, saying crews will pretreat roads starting immediately and run plows beginning Sunday.
The staff member said crews have been aware of the storm since the prior Sunday and will pretreat today, tomorrow and Saturday as needed. "All of our trucks will be fully equipped and ready to go, and most all of the plowing will be done on top of pretreated roads," the staff member said, adding that plowing over pretreated surfaces speeds the initial clearing pass.
The forecast discussed in the briefing calls for an average of about 7 inches of snow across much of Franklin County, with a range from about 3 to 10 inches depending on location; the northwest part of the county is expected to see "quite a bit more" dry snow while the southeast may receive more icy conditions. The staff member said the county is pretreating with a salt brine and a calcium chloride brine, and does not use beet juice.
At the time of the meeting the county had three trucks out of service; staff said two were in the shop and work was underway to return them to service by Saturday morning so the county expects to be down one truck for the event but that remaining equipment should be sufficient to respond.
Commissioners questioned whether beet juice was being used for pretreatment and asked about vehicle availability; staff answered both questions during the briefing. No formal action was taken; the briefing was provided as a departmental report to inform commissioners and the public.
