The public will see the Dallas County Secondary Roads Department hitting the streets this winter working hard with snow touching the ground. 

County Engineer Al Miller says they have been preparing for the first snowfall since the first week in November. Miller explains that means they have prepped the trucks to plow the snow. Miller notes that they had 600 tons of salt left over from last year and they also recently purchased 1,400 tons. He points out there is another chemical they use to melt ice and snow. 

“Sodium chloride and water similar to what the state (DOT) uses. So we keep brine on hand. When we get forecasts of frost forecasts, we try to pretreat or apply that brine to the paved routes prior to storms or in high frost probability times. Just in those areas where we know we’re more susceptible to freezing conditions.”

Miller adds they have 10 truck routes covering 160 miles of paved road. He says their priority first is doing paved routes and then they will work on the unsurfaced roads.