City, state prepare for Winter Blast

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Our next winter blast will strike Tuesday.  There is still a bit of uncertainty on the exact track of this system.  So road crews are on stand-by as they wait for the storm to hit.

With ice, rain, and snow a possibility Tuesday, it’s difficult to say exactly where that ice line will go.  This means that both city road crews and the state highway department are taking a "wait and see" approach to the storm.

"Right now we're monitoring the weather", said Mary Foster with INDOT.  "In addition to that, we’ve got our people prepared if we need them for full call out.  We've been just going over the trucks and making sure that everything has been working, lights, snow plows, making sure that everything is in working order."

Once the storm hits, road crews will head out and treat the affected areas.  This system is looking like a slow, all day type of event.  This will mean long days for road crews, and multiple treatments of the main roads.

With salt trucks and plow expected to be out all day, Frank Suarez with Fort Wayne Public Works has this advice.

"As always it's important to remember that our plow trucks are non-emergency vehicles", said Frank Suarez.  "They have to stop at stop lights just like everyone else.  If there's a freezing rain that goes through the whole day tomorrow, we'll stay on the main roads before we would get into the secondary roads.  We have to keep those open and as clear as possible for emergency vehicles."

It's also a good idea to take it slow on icy or snowy roads.  Patience is the key when it comes to driving safely in winter weather.  Also stay tuned to WANE-TV and wane.com for the latest updates on the storm .