‘Nearly impossible to plan for’: Ky. road crews get ready for winter storm

SCOTT COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) - Road crews around Kentucky are getting ready for a winter storm to roll across the commonwealth.

Scott County crews say they’ve been watching the forecasts and making the best plans they can.

They said an event like this is nearly impossible to plan for, but they have done everything they can to make sure that their crews are ready to go when those temperatures drop.

“This is a little bit of a crazy situation that’s coming in. You’re going to drop 40 degrees, blowing snow, snow squalls, you’re going to have freezing with the rain coming in first,” said J.R. Brandenburg, Scott County Roads and Maintenance director.

Brandenburg told us his crews have checked over each of their trucks twice already this week. He says the salt barn is filled with 4,500 tons of salt and his team has had time to plan.

However, he says this storm won’t be easy to handle. Rain early in the day means that pre-treating the roads isn’t a possibility. The brine would wash right off, meaning crews will have to wait for that switchover to happen.

It’s almost impossible to make a plan for that. You just kind of got to make judgment calls and deal with it as it happens,” Brandenburg said. “We’re going to kind of sit in standby during the first part of it and then we’re going to be prepared to hit the roads.”

Brandenburg says one of the biggest ways you can help crews is by staying off the roads. Brandenburg says if you do have to be out on the roads, make sure you give these crews as much space as possible so that they can do their jobs.

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