City of Tulsa street crews are pulling 12-hour shifts around the clock to deal with a winter storm set to blow through Green Country.
Street Maintenance Manager Tim McCorkell said 66 trucks started treating bridges, hills and overpasses with brine at 7 p.m. before moving on to apply salt to main roads, but it’s not just drivers involved in the city response.
"It takes 170 employees to make this work. That’s mechanics, clerical, management and the people in the vehicles. So, they’re all on board. Everybody’s set, everybody’s notified, and we’ll make it happen," McCorkell said.
McCorkell said they put off salt treatment until midnight to avoid rain and then rush-hour traffic.
Forecasts call for 4 to 6 inches of snow in Tulsa County, though some areas could see 8 inches. McCorkell said there are plenty of veterans in the department who have been through big snow storms before.
"A little shift in a couple counties with the storm can mean maybe 4 more inches of snow. So, we’re prepared, and, like, this year we had a couple smaller events, which got some of our novice drivers out and got to get them acclimated to the situation," McCorkell said.
McCorkell asked for people to stay home and off the roads if they don’t have to travel during the storm.
"You need to give the employees the room to work. It’s a lot tougher if you have to address these situations driving around vehicles in a lot of traffic," McCorkell said.
Drivers will start plowing arterial streets once 1 to 2 inches of snow accumulate. Roads around hospitals are the street department's second priority. Roads around schools may be plowed as time allows.
Crews will try to apply another layer of salt to roads after they've been plowed to help prevent refreezing as temperatures dip into the teens overnight.
