As temperatures are forecasted to drop and chances of snow precipitation are possible, crews in the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) District 3 are pretreating the roadways this week with a brine solution.

This pretreatment strategy is effective when applied in liquid form to dry pavement before a forecasted storm by preventing the bond of ice to the pavement. This strategy is equally effective to combat frost and black ice. The use of this pretreatment method is effective up to 72 hours after application and is a simple solution of rock salt (sodium chloride NaCl) and water.

This year, in an effort to enhance our anti-icing/de-icing activities, a total of 265 drivers are available in Ashland, Crawford, Erie, Huron, Lorain, Medina, Richland and Wayne counties. Eighty of those drivers have been hired solely for winter operations, a nearly 25% increase in District 3’s workforce from last winter.

Snow accumulations are expected to be light; however, there is a possibility of lake effect snow in District 3’s secondary snow belt counties of Lorain and Medina.