Snow is coming, and that means highway departments across the area are in prep mode.
You're likely familiar with seeing plows out very early in the morning, clearing a path for you on the day of a large snowfall. But in order for that to happen efficiently and effectively, a ton of prep work must be done first.
Marathon Co. highway Operations Supervisor John Bangart says it's a full team effort.
"We had all our spray trucks out. I do believe we've got nine or ten of them. We talk with our following counties. We try to stay consistent especially on the four lanes. We know the supervisors pretty good. We'll give them a call 'hey when are you guys quitting, when are you starting, are you salting?' We just try to keep the whole highway system uniform as best as we can."
He says without prep work, the snow would bond to the pavement and essentially create sheer ice over every road.
When it comes to the safety of everyone on the roads, remember, you have to do your part as a driver as well. Wisconsin State Patrol Sgt. Rhae Stertz says often times people are just in too big of a hurry.
"They need to slow down in these kind of conditions. You need to leave at least 200 feet of space between you and the plow. Plenty of space between your vehicle and others. Just gives you more time to react. You don't want to break suddenly, that's another way to get in a crash."
And as a reminder, you should never hit the road unprepared.
"You wanna make sure all the snow is cleared off." Stertz explained. "The frost is off the windows. Your tires are in good shape, that they are not bald. Those are all things that can cause accidents. Buckle up. Cellphone down. Have an emergency kit."
You can always check road conditions before you go using the 511 Wisconsin app, or by going to 511wi.gov.
You'll see some new road condition categories. They are now; Normal, Partially Covered, Completely Covered, Travel Not Advised and No Report.
You can also get traffic updates and see live camera feeds of highways.
