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Transportation officials push for people to stay home amid winter storm warning

ODOT District 8 crews will come in at 11 p.m.
ODOT prepares for winter storm
Posted at 6:03 PM, Jan 24, 2023
and last updated 2023-01-24 18:04:50-05

CINCINNATI — Cincinnati transportation officials are urging drivers to stay off the roads on Wednesday.

Crews from the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) will work overnight to clear the roads as the threat of heavy snowfall remains.

“Hamilton County is already planning a 16-hour rotation beginning at 11 p.m. tonight,” said ODOT Public Information Officer Kathleen Fuller. “For our district, we’ll probably have in the neighborhood of 120, 125 trucks out, especially during the first part of this storm and pretty much the entire event.”

Fuller added the interstates will get priority.

“Our interstate is obviously our priority system, our four lanes will be our priority. So Greene County with US-35, we also have Interstate 71, we have Interstate 75,” Fuller said.

Fuller said people should stay home if they can because the roads won’t be perfect.

“We’re not going to be promising any clear pavement especially if we get as much precipitation as much snow that is forecasted during the overnight hours and if this moves in quickly and it really starts putting it down fast that we’re not going to have clear pavement,” she said.

AAA Fleet Supervisor Zach Westphal said drivers need to take it slow if they’re out on the roads.

“Drive slowly, use extra caution, allow adequate distance, the more space you leave between you and the vehicle ahead of you the better off you’re going to be,” Westphal said.

If you get stuck, Westphal recommends having these things on hand: “a shovel, a blanket or something to stay warm with maybe some kitty litter or something to give the tires some extra traction.”

He noted you can use the shovel to clear the snow underneath your car and by your tires to try and get out.

Westphal said it could take AAA crews a while to get to cars stuck on the road.

“The big [winter storm] that we had around Christmas time, we were pushing 400 to 500 calls a day just out of our location here. Our wait times were pretty high, like three hours or more in some cases,” Westphal said.

He said they’re working on getting more drivers to come in to help with the high call volume.

Fuller is asking for patience as crews work to clear the roadways.

“It takes a very long time for our trucks, our snowplow operators, the highway technicians, the men and women who are at the wheel, it takes a long time to travel and cover any route,” said Fuller. “While your sitting thinking they haven’t been out on your roadway, you think you haven’t seen a truck go by in a long time it does take a long time for them to travel.”