MnDOT Crews Hope To Combat Icy Roads Overnight

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Crews across the state are working to clear the roads before ice becomes a bigger problem.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) says the timing of the storm made things tough Monday morning. They pretreated several roads, but Mother Nature usually wins.

MnDOT Maintenance Engineer Mike Kamnikar says crews did what they could ahead of this Monday morning storm, pretreating bridge decks, ramps and other problems areas along the 5,000 miles of metro roads MnDOT oversees.

Crews used chemical liquid cornstarch to pretreat, but rush hour ran right over those early methods.

Drivers we caught up with say they saw mainly slush near the Twin Cities.

"They're not bad right now. It's a little slippery out here considering how cold it is," driver Quincy Caldwell said.

MnDOT says that's because so far temperatures have cooperated, staying in the range that makes the salt work.

"Our crews are out there and we got our plow blades down, and we're removing as much as we can of the material off the highways," Kamnikar said.

Now, crews plant to use salt and plows throughout Monday night and overnight -- when the roads are less busy -- to clear the way for drivers.

The hope right now is that temperatures continue to cooperate and to make use of overnight to clear up the highways before another round of snow hits.