City and state workers prepared for an expected winter storm on Monday, doing what they could to help keep drivers safe.
With the storm forecast to bring ice and snow to much of East Texas and Arkansas overnight, both Texarkanas' public works departments and both states' transportation departments got ready to treat potentially slick roadways with sand and salt.
Texarkana, Texas, had sand spreaders loaded by Monday afternoon, with staff on standby should they be needed despite officially having Martin Luther King Jr. Day off, Public Works Director Dustin Henslee said.
Texarkana, Ark., was working in conjunction with the state and would begin street and bridge preparation at about 9 p.m. Monday, City Manager Kenny Haskin said.
Texas Department of Transportation began spraying highways with a salty brine solution Monday, which in a news release it called "an effective way to prevent early icing."
"Once winter precipitation begins, TxDOT will have crews out around the clock working on the highways," the release stated.
TxDOT strongly recommends staying off roads made dangerous by winter weather. For anyone who must drive under wintry conditions, txdot.gov has the following safety advice:
- Slow down. Speed limits are based on normal road and weather conditions, not winter road conditions.
- Maintain at least three times the normal following distance on snow or ice.
- Watch carefully for snow removal equipment and stay at least 200 feet behind snow plows.
- Use extra caution on bridges, ramps, overpasses and shaded areas as they tend to freeze first.
- If your vehicle starts to slide, ease off the gas pedal or brakes. Steer into the direction of the skid until you have regained traction. Then straighten your vehicle.
The storm-which the Weather Channel has named Winter Storm Inga-was expected to bring colder temperatures and precipitation to a large swath of the United States stretching from New England to Central Texas.
Locally, temperatures were forecast to reach a low of around 20 degrees overnight and not climb above freezing today.