Few traffic accidents on Tulsa's roadways

Thursday, December 8th 2005, 10:18 am

By: News On 6

Oklahoma Department of Transportation crews worked late Wednesday night and Thursday morning to prep streets and highways, to make roads safer for drivers. And based on the number of wrecks, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol says it worked.

News on 6 reporter Omar Villafranca says work crews spent most of the night salting roads, melting any snow that stuck on the streets.

Department of Transportation trucks dropped sand on the highways, providing drivers with extra traction. The usual trouble spots, bridges and overpasses, received extra attention. ODOTâ€™s Cole Perryman: "we actually hit the Tulsa metro last night with 20 trucks with spreaders and snow plow capabilities and quite a bit of tonnage of sand and salt and then the mixture of both."

There were a few accidents, but not as many as expected. By the end of the morning Thursday, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol in Tulsa had only worked 20 accidents. ODOT says drivers did their part. â€œSome credit is due to the drivers, definitely, for maintaining a slower speed. I noticed that when I was out and some of our crews were out, leaving the downtown area and city area, were driving safely and there were some slower speeds.â€

Even though most of the snow melted from the roads, the work won't stop. Cole Perryman: â€œWe don't stop until the roads are actually clear, and so crews are out right now, not so much plowing, but salting the icy spots and taking care of those issues."