First Accumulating Snow of Winter Could Create Icy Friday Morning Commute

(January 4, 2017) – The Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration (SHA) is pretreating roads and interstates in advance of Central Maryland’s first accumulating snowfall of the season Thursday night/early Friday.  SHA sprays salt brine on roads to prevent snow or ice from bonding to the pavement.

“The storm is expected to impact Friday morning’s rush hour, which presents challenges for SHA crews as they become stuck in the same traffic as everyone else,” said SHA Administrator Gregory C. Johnson, P.E.  “We ask that travelers make smart and informed travel choices Friday morning by delaying commuting to enable crews to effectively treat roads.”

Click here for a video of SHA pretreating I-70 in Frederick County.

Drivers can view the latest road conditions on SHA’s website at www.roads.maryland.gov and clicking “CHART.”  Travelers may obtain the latest free traffic and weather information by calling 5-1-1 from a landline or a hands-free mobile device or logging onto www.MD511.org.  Maryland’s 511 service now offers free text and email alerts for most travelled routes through 511Direct – simply register and set your routes and preferences on-line.

Customers may also follow SHA on Twitter @MDSHA and “like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MarylandStateHighwayAdministration.