City of Tulsa Crews started applying brine and salt to bridges, hills and elevated surfaces last night. Crews will continue to treat Tulsa’s roads throughout the morning.
Motorists are encouraged to slow down while driving and remain weather aware. Motorists should also use caution near road crews and leave plenty of room between your car and the brine and salt trucks.
The City of Tulsa is responsible for clearing snow and ice from certain segments of the Tulsa expressway system and all arterial (main) streets. Other expressway segments in Tulsa are the responsibility of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.
City of Tulsa resources:
- 49 truck-mounted salt spreaders
- 44 truck-mounted snow plows (Of the 49 trucks with spreaders, 44 have plows.)
- 7 4x4 pick-up trucks equipped with snow plows
- 3 motor graders for use as plows
- 170 employees (including drivers and support staff)
- Approximately 12,000 tons of salt on hand
- 2 salt brine systems equipped with 2 applicators
The salt brine system serves as an anti-icing agent by helping prevent precipitation from bonding to the roadway.
Crews are assigned to 35 specific routes totaling 1,770 lane-miles, which is approximately the same distance as driving from Tulsa to San Francisco.
Spreading and plowing routes are prioritized based on traffic counts. Once the main streets are cleared and conditions permit, selected residential streets may be treated based upon traffic and steepness.
During winter weather response, the first focus is to clear city arterial streets for emergency responders. After arterial streets are clear, the second focus then moves to residential or collector streets near hospitals, schools and areas with steep hills.