TxDOT Austin shares preparations ahead of winter season

AUSTIN, Texas - Since February’s winter storm, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has been looking ahead to cooler months and coming up with ways to improve preparedness.

On Thursday, Austin District Engineer Tucker Ferguson outlined their plans in the event of a winter storm of similar magnitude.

"Certainly we hope that we don’t see a winter event like we had last year, but we always plan for the worst and plan to react to that," said Ferguson.

Just last week, crews conducted a winter weather exercise.

"We went through all of our materials and inventory, checked our equipment, made sure it’s in up-and-running condition and ready to go," he said. "We also refined our plan to be flexible and adaptable and react to whatever winter weather event we get throughout our entire district."  

Changes this time around include having more materials on hand. This winter season they’ll have 144,000 gallons of liquid brine compared to last season’s 99,000 gallons. Along with brine they can treat the roads with magnesium chloride, and they've almost tripled that stockpile from about 427 tons to around 1200 tons.

While investing in snow plows was considered, they ultimately opted out. Instead, they're outfitting all of their 16 motor graders with snow removal equipment.

To keep up with road conditions during weather events, residents can follow TxDOT Austin on Twitter. 

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