SALEM, Va. – Winter is coming and VDOT crews are ready.
VDOT spokesman Jason Bond said crews have been prepping for Mother Nature’s unpredictability for months.
“Chemicals stockpiled, dress rehearsals completed, equipment checked, contractors signed up,” explained Bond.
Each year, they incorporate what they’ve learned from the previous season.
"We're always looking at new ways of utilizing our equipment, our snow routes, maybe looking at how we make passes through certain communities," Bond said.
Pre-season work usually looks pretty similar, but the numbers are always different.
This year, statewide, VDOT is working with a $205 million budget that includes more than 2,500 crew members and contractors, more than 12,100 pieces of equipment, more than 2.4 million gallons of chemicals and nearly 700,000 tons of salt.
The VDOT Salem District gets 1,100 vehicles and $15.8 million of the overall budget. If winter weather hits this region hard and pushes the limit of that budget, Bond said it won’t cause any immediate problems.
"We're going to continue to plow snow, it just means that other maintenance activities may be scaled back in the springtime season going into summer," Bond said.
Bond said now is the time for you to prepare too. The best way to help VDOT make the roads safe for everyone is to pack your patience.
Click here to track road closures. Click here to track snowplows during winter weather events.