Oklahoma Transportation Officials Discourage Travel Tuesday

NewsOn6.com

UNDATED -- The Oklahoma Department of Transportation says it's prepared to deal with slick roads and hazardous travel conditions, but encourages people to just stay home.

ODOT spokesman David Meuser said the department has 110 salt sheds fully stocked with 13,000 tons of sand or sand-salt mixtures.

He says about 1,200 workers are available to work during the storm, many for 12-to-16 hour shifts.

ODOT says they will start applying salt-sand mixtures through out the night in the Tulsa metro area, and continue operations Tuesday.

Oklahoma Turnpike Authority's Jack Damrill says that agency is also prepared.

He says the authority has almost 64,000 gallons of magnesium chloride, more than 29,000 tons of salt and more than 12,000 tons of sand stocked up for this week's weather.

The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority will have 87 pieces of equipment positioned along the state's 10 turnpikes.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. George Brown says troopers are discouraging travel as the storm begins to affect driving conditions.

"If you have sick days or personnel days saved up, this is a good time to use them," he said.

Brown said they will also bring in additional troopers to patrol the Tulsa area during the storm.

He encourages motorists who have to be out on the roads Tuesday to bring a safety kit, including blankets and a fully charged cell phone.

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