Road crews gear up to keep Capital Region roads safe

LATHAM – As the snow and ice start to fall in the Capital Region, Department of Transportation plow trucks will be hitting the road.

The salt barns were full, and the snowplow trucks were lined up when NewsChannel 13 visited the DOT in Latham.

There are 185 plow trucks for the Greater Capital Region and 17 at the Latham garage alone.

Crews were looking over the snowplow trucks Thursday morning, to make sure each one is running smoothly.

About 420 operators and supervisors will be working in 12-hour shifts to help keep the roads safe. Nine DOT crew members from Long Island are also here to help.

You are encouraged to stay off the roads if you can, but if you do need to travel, make sure you adjust your speed accordingly, and leave these plows plenty of space.

With a wide variety of precipitation expected, DOT says it will adjust its approaches accordingly.

Learn about some of how that plan works, especially when crews are dealing with freezing rain, by watching the video of Sam Hesler’s story.