By Ian Nikkel, Fox23 News
OKLAHOMA — With most of the highways cleared, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) discussed their next steps following the initial snow storm.
“We do have some spots that need some work, so we are working on those today,” said T.J. Gerlach with ODOT. “Then we also need to start focusing, put extra attention on the on and off ramps. Then we’ll be looking at our shoulder areas as well after that.”
Lieutenant Southall with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said while there were crashes this weekend, the number was lower than anticipated.
“ODOT and OTA workers [were] able to really treat these streets 24 hours a day, around the clock. They’ve done a great job of keeping these streets clean. I think that those combined are the reasons why we have seen less crashes than what we expected.”
Southall explained where OHP has seen the most problems following the storm.
“As the storm has passed and the roads—the main roads—have been cleared, we’re seeing more problems in the rural areas in the state, highways that are a little bit harder to get to and less traveled.”
Even though the traffic has picked up today, Southall said issues on the road have been minimal.
“As traffic gets to picking up [like] we’re seeing today and the sun’s coming out and staying out, it’s really starting to melt a lot of those high traffic areas, which is a big benefit to us.”
Southall shared what people can do to stay safe on the roads.
“We just ask they watch their driving, make sure they extend their following distance greatly [and] they watch their speed. Speed is always a factor during these types of weather events when it’s slick outside.”
