Big Storm Preps

You wouldn’t know by today’s balmy conditions that a storm is a’brewin.’ But, road crews will be working through the weekend preparing it.

While there’s still a lot of uncertainty about exactly what track this storm will take, CDOT is ready to respond in El Paso County.

Thirty four plows and two 6,000-gallon tanker units are on standby. They can spread between 30,000 and 60,000 gallons of liquid de-icer per event. The drivers will work in 12 hour shifts.

CDOT Highway Maintenance Supervisor, Kenneth Quintana, in Colorado Springs, says his team is prepared:

“Well, right now, we’ve gone over all our trucks, looked over the plows, made sure the blades were good, made sure we’ve got plenty of material. Right now we’re at 100 percent capacity, or 80 percent at most places, make sure that the guys are all ready. All we’ve got to do is just wait and see what the storm’ s going to do,” he said.

But, it raises the question: Do you think that people will drive regardless of what the conditions are?

Some drivers like Jim Duffey won’t let snow keep him from his work, but some, like Doug Woodbury see the bright side of staying at home.

Jim told us, “I’ve never missed a day of work because of weather-related issues.” But he doesn’t think that’s the way everybody should be.

Doug agrees. “If people are getting out and it’s getting crazy, just stay inside, have a fire – stay nice and warm and toasty. No need to go out.”

CDOT really hopes you do too. But if you have to be out they recommend the following:

Have good tires, plenty of windshield washer fluid, make sure your wipers are in good shape, plan ahead, leave early, and always carry that emergency survival kit in your car.

Don’t forget! You can keep yourself ahead of the storm by downloading our weather app. Just search for “StormTracker 13 Weather” in the App Store on your iPhone or Android.