Allegheny County Public Works preps for first big winter storm this season

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — Nearly 12,000 pounds of salt is ready to go as Allegheny County Public Works crews prepare for a tricky winter storm on Friday.

“Due to the low temps we are going to be treating the salt with calcium chloride bc of lower temps and high winds, wind chills we be around 0 we want every body to be safe and take their time,” director of public works Steven Shanley said.

Public works crews gave us a tour of one of their maintenance facilities today, and details of their plans to tackle the roads on Friday, starting at 3 a.m.

They will have 33 trucks on the roads adding 260 gallons of calcium chloride: because of the lower temperatures and high winds.

Each truck will be going over the same route repeatedly all day; however, some routes take close to 2 hours. Shanley urges people to slow down. The fear is when the temperature suddenly drops there will be little warning before the roads turn to ice, a transition they’re preparing for.

“So the hurdle is the ice us trying to get it treated as quickly as possible. Some of the routes take 1-2 hours to treat the roads, so there is a time they wont be treated so we ask people to be careful snow is better, but ice is no body can maneuver on ice it’s very dangerous,” Shanley said.

Shanley praised his team, saying they plan to work at least 24 hours or until the storm is over.  They ask that drivers give them space to do their jobs.

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