TxDOT EP crews preparing for upcoming winter season travel, road conditions

EL PASO, Texas ( KTSM ) — The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) in El Paso is preparing maintenance crews for the upcoming winter season and potential road freezes.

According to the news release by TxDOT, crews are meeting with staff, neighboring districts and counties to ensure the needed winterizing and treatment materials are in stock; testing and installing winter equipment; making sure communications are in place; and coordinating personnel schedules.

"The safety for our employees and the traveling public is our priority," said TxDOT El Paso District Engineer Tomas Treviño. "We want to be proactive as it is critical to be ready for inclement conditions and it is safer to pretreat roads ahead of any storm."

The El Paso District covers six counties, Brewster, Culberson, El Paso, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis and Presidio, with over 100 maintenance employees using 53 snowplows and 11 brine applicator trucks, according to TxDOT.

A few locations in the six-county district are the most critical and challenging for crews to maintain, especially along the 186 miles of the I-10 corridor, TxDOT said.

"The IH-10/IH-20 spilt is a remote area and a long distance for El Paso and Odessa maintenance sections to reach and the Pine Springs, Guadalupe Mountains area is a steep slope that gets very icy due to the high altitudes," said Treviño.

The brine used to winterize roads ahead of freezing temperatures and precipitation is made of a salt and water mixture. Drivers will see a three-vehicle moving convoy with brine treatment signs.

Drivers should not get in between the operation and if they do get the treatment on their vehicles, they need to rinse the affected area with water, according to TxDOT.

Maintenance crews "consider different factors ahead of winterizing roads including moisture, temperature, area of the District being affected, and the National Weather Service forecast," according to TxDOT.

TxDOT said motorists should not crowd the plow and should increase distance.

Due to the size of the El Paso District, crews are prioritizing I-10 roadways that are high-travel and high-population areas, TxDOT said.

Should you need to travel during a winter event, you could track the road conditions on DriveTexas.org.