Road workers ready for snow

By Ty Tagami

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

With metro Atlanta bracing for more snow Wednesday, the people in charge of Georgia's highways say they'll be doing all they can to keep them clear.

Road workers from South Georgia will be commuting north to reinforce their metro Atlanta colleagues, so more manpower can be deployed on interstates and major roads to the north, where the weather will be more severe, said Jill Goldberg, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Transportation.

Forecasters are not calling for an ice storm, but DOT is taking no chances. Officials are issuing a warning that has become all too familiar since the week-long snowy embrace of early January: if you don't have to drive, don't.

"It's not an ice storm," Goldberg said. "That doesn't mean that ice can't form on the road."

DOT's first obligation is to keep the interstates clear. The workers from South Georgia will take responsibility for the portions of I-20 and I-675 that lead into I-285. Metro DOT workers can then focus on I-285 and points north. Once those routes are clear, workers will move to four-lane state highways, and work their way to smaller routes.

Said Gov. Nathan Deal, who had to cancel his post-inaugural gala because of the January snow storm: "In terms of learning from our first experience last month, I think we’ve learned some things and I think preparations will be much more appropriate."

DOT has stationed crews at strategic locations, such as bridges, which tend to ice over, he said. And crew shifts have been tweaked so that they will overlap.

Said Goldberg: "There won't be any points in time where nobody's on the road."

Some of these strategies were employed during the last event. For instance, Goldberg said, DOT moved crews from South Georgia to Atlanta in preparation for the January snow storm. Still, many thoroughfares remained impassable for days.

In the end, the biggest difference between now and then may be something beyond human control. This time, forecasters are calling for less than an inch or two of snow, with little accumulation.

Staff writer Aaron Gould Sheinin contributed to this article.