FREMONT, Ohio — Along the Lake Erie shore, road crews with the Ohio Department of Transportation are preparing to battle not only this two-day storm, but what might happen in the aftermath.
Crews at the Sandusky County ODOT garage will be busy outside of their plows over the next few days.
Equipment checks and last-minute organization are top priorities leading up to the large snowfall forecasted for mid-week.
But, one thing you won't see is ODOT trucks spreading their brine to pretreat the roads.
"With the rain coming down first before the snow, yeah it would be difficult for us to sit there and pre-treat. Basically that rain, it will wash off any of the brine that we would put down," Sandusky County ODOT Transportation Administrator Michael Leach, Jr. said.
Once the snow begins to fall, 20 drivers in Sandusky County will work a continuous 12-hour shift rotation. Their ultimate goal will be to completely clear the roadway, but while the snow is still falling, they will simply be making sure the roads are passable.
"We try to focus on just trying to keep the roads open. Sometimes, it's just hard to get the materials to work, so if the public can be patient, we'll get the roads as soon as we can," Kenneth Thompson, a 19-year ODOT veteran, said.
Along with preparing their plows and equipment, ODOT crews will be clearing the road shoulder of any snowpack; that way, the new snowfall has somewhere to go.
Each ODOT garage follows multiple meteorological forecasts to plan their days during snowstorms, but their job won't be done once the storm passes. In these more rural areas, drivers are expecting to be battling drifting snow for at least another day or two.
"We're seeing that the winds might be kicking up during that time, and so an event that would only last maybe 24-48 hours could actually go much longer for us as we battle those winds as it blows snow around," Leach said.