NTTA Roadway Conditions Update
Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015 – 1 p.m.

The following is an update of NTTA actions in response to inclement weather:

Drivers are encouraged to use extreme caution, slow down and allow extra distance between vehicles when driving on all roadways in the Metroplex.

• All NTTA roadways are open and passable, but drivers must be aware of challenging driving conditions throughout this winter weather event. With freezing drizzle falling in some parts of North Texas, roadways may develop icy patches that are difficult for drivers to detect.
• A full complement of NTTA crews are monitoring and patrolling the NTTA system. Crews began another round of 12-hour shifts Fri., Feb. 27 at 8 a.m. This schedule will continue for the duration of this winter weather event.
• NTTA roadway crews are using snowplows to remove slush where it has gathered on the roadway. Again, with freezing drizzle falling throughout the area, roadways are being coated with precipitation. As temperatures rise, drivers can expect improving conditions, but should still exercise caution.
• Crews applied MD-20 (magnesium chloride), and brine overnight and earlier this morning. Through midday and early afternoon, crews continue to search for and treat trouble spots. As always crews are paying special attention to bridges, interchanges and elevated surfaces on the NTTA System.
• NTTA has 104 people per shift either in trucks or operating equipment such as frontend loaders or skid steers for loading trucks with material. (CTP – 19, PGBT - 37, SRT - 34, DNT – 14). There are 95 plow or sanding trucks monitoring, treating and clearing roadways. 
• NTTA asks drivers to keep a good distance from sand/de-icing trucks and plows to ensure the safety of both operators and motorists using NTTA roadways.
• Pavement sensors are positioned strategically at various locations around the NTTA System, and are located both on the roadway surface, sub-surface, and on elevated structures to obtain readings fully representative of temperatures affecting roadway surfaces.

Current roadway surface sensor readings are as follows:

• PGBT/DNT Overpass: 32.2 degrees
• SRT/DNT:  31.8 degrees
• PGBT/IH-35 Overpass: 32.2 degrees
• PGBT/IH-635 Overpass: 32 degrees
• Lewisville Lake Toll Bridge: 30.8 degrees
• CTP/I-30: 30.2 degrees

NTTA is committed to providing the safest driving conditions possible for its customers. Drivers who require assistance on the NTTA System should call 9-1-1 to be connected to police dispatch, which will transfer the call directly to NTTA’s Command Center. The Command Center will then dispatch NTTA’s free Roadway Assistance to the driver’s location. Drivers who are in need of assistance should, if possible, move their vehicle to the side of the road and stay inside the vehicle with a seatbelt securely fastened while waiting for assistance to arrive.

NTTA Snow/Ice Response Fast Facts:

• Follow NTTA on Facebook and Twitter (@TollTagTidbits) for the very latest information regarding current traffic conditions. 
• There are two brine stations, as well as 13 material stockpiles, containing both magnesium chloride (Melt Down 20) and sand mixtures, placed strategically throughout the System for improved response times.
• As icy patches are identified, “Hot Shot” trucks from the Maintenance Department can be dispatched quickly to those specific locations to spot treat those areas with MD 20, the de-icing material, and sand.
• Many NTTA trucks are outfitted with global positioning satellite (GPS) equipment. During a snow or ice event, their locations are easily tracked, allowing the NTTA to quickly re-position vehicles for rapid response to trouble spots on the roadway.
• Maintenance crews can treat all elevated structures throughout the System every hour, and the entire System can be treated in less than two hours.
• The NTTA snow and ice plan has a designated route for each truck to ensure every mile of our roadways is sanded every hour. If a truck is a few minutes in front of a driver or a few minutes behind a driver or if they are re-filling their spreader it is very possible to drive an NTTA roadway without observing a sand truck.

www.NTTA.org