TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo's road crews are preparing for the imminent winter storm, but Thursday evening's rainy weather is only making their job harder.
Streets, Bridges, and Harbor Commissioner Jeremy Mikoljczyk said they're salting the roads in anticipation, but he's worried much of the brine will wash away. That could lead to some dangerously icy conditions on Friday, but his team will be working all through the storm to keep things as under control as they can.
"Anything that we don't get treated through the night is going to freeze over and it's going to create slick spots," Mikoljczyk said.
Mikoljczyk predicts conditions through the night will prove to be a challenge for anyone on the road during the early morning on Friday, which is why it's all hands on deck for their crews.
"We're starting our 12-hour shifts, we're planning our shift change at midnight and we'll stay on shifts until we've taken care of everything we need to take care of on the roadways," he said.
While the expected rain will delay how quickly they can respond, Mikoljczyk said as soon as it switches to snow, they'll get right to work.
There will be 80 people per shift sorting through the hazardous conditions, including plow driver Terrance Daniels.
Daniels said when he's on the road, the biggest danger doesn't come from the weather, it comes frim the public.
"Please be cautious, please be mindful, please pay attention to your surroundings and please give us the space that we need," he said.
And this year, you might notice a few extra plows on the road.
During last season's storms, residential streets often took longer to be plowed. Mikoljczyk said over the course of the year, they've invested in smaller vehicles to help tackle that issue.
While Mikoljczyk said holiday travel will likely be impacted no matter what in the coming days, he said the city expects to make significant progress over the weekend, starting with the most traveled streets.
"We should have them cleared up and able to be traveled on within a day or two," he said.
However, school zones, hospitals and other areas off of main roads will take longer because the smaller vehicles don't have salting devices.
They intend to work all through the weekend, even on Christmas Day, to clear all of the streets off as quickly as possible.