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THOMASTON - Georgia Department of Transportation (Georgia DOT) maintenance crews throughout north and central Georgia will brine-treat state highways and interstates tonight in anticipation of possible black ice conditions during the overnight hours. Within District 3, the Georgia DOT's west central region, nine counties will have state highways and interstates treated, starting at 7:00 p.m.
The west central Georgia counties that will have state highways and interstates brine-treated are: Heard, Coweta, Fayette, Henry, Butts, Spalding, Pike, Meriwether and Troup. In the map above, those counties are yellow.
The preparations for the roadway treatment began when weather reports from the National Weather Service from Peachtree City announced that temperatures throughout several northern and central Georgia counties, including the nine listed above, were expected overnight to drop into the upper 20s to lower 30s. For roadways still wet from recent rains, the potentially freezing temperatures could cause dangerous black ice or slick spots.
When the crews deploy, they will drive large trucks with huge brine tanks attached through the affected counties, spraying the road surfaces with the brine. The highly concentrated salt solution lowers the freezing point of water, preventing ice from forming on the roadways.
If motorists encounter a brine truck while driving tonight, they are urged to slow down, give it space and be alert to its operations.
If motorists must drive throughout the affected region overnight or tomorrow morning, they should lower their speeds and be especially cautious on bridges and overpasses, as well as secondary roads which may not be pretreated. Governor Nathan Deal has issued a statement delaying the opening of state government offices within the affected north and central Georgia counties tomorrow, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018, until 10:00 a.m.
Stay tuned for further developments or changes as the day progresses.