Crews prep for winter weather

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Vigo County road crews say prevention is their best tool to make driving on this snow and ice a little less treacherous.

“I ate my Wheaties this morning and I’m ready for as long as it takes,” joked Rusty Maurer, a road supervisor with the Vigo County Highway Department.

Maurer took News 10 along for a ride Thursday morning as he helped saturate all 800 highway miles of county highway with brine:   a salt/water/calcium solution that, when applied to the road’s surface early enough, prevents the snow and ice from adhering to the roadway. Maurer said it also speeds up the melting process.

As prepared as Vigo County roads might have been when the harsh winter elements started to surface, Terre Haute city streets don’t get the luxury of any type of preventive treatment.

Brad Miller, who oversees the city’s street department, told News 10 he doesn’t have the budget or the equipment to take a preemptive strike against the elements like applying brine. He said his department does have 15 plow trucks to apply a salt / sand mixture at the onset of precipitation, or to push snow accumulation out of drivers’ way should the need arise.