ALTON - Joe Monroe, an operations manager for the Illinois Department of Transportation, and his crews are out in a strong fashion Thursday treating surfaces.
Monroe was in Jersey County when interviewed Thursday morning and said IDOT has multiple trucks out salting prior to when ice and snow will hit the region.
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"We have trucks working in anticipation of what is ahead," he said.
Monroe said it was around 32 degrees at 10:45 a.m. Thursday and the rain is starting to freeze in trees.
"We are trying to be out in front of this the best we can," Monroe said. "It is such a challenge. We don't want to take a chance on being behind or being wasteful of our chemicals. We had trucks out at 7 a.m."
Monroe said unfortunately later in the day, problems could surface with the roads.
"As the sun drops, we are fearful temperatures will follow suit," he said. "Once you lose the angle of the sun, the cold air will win out quickly. We are concerned about the roads from 3 p.m. on today. Look out for quick and changing conditions Thursday afternoon."
The operations manager said by Friday morning, traffic should be getting around better than this afternoon.
"There could be some isolated slick spots and a little bit of blowing snow in the northern part of the district," he said. "We could have 3-4 inches of snow in the northern part."
