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Travel Status – Indiana
Road Conditions – Indiana
The city of Fort Wayne released the following statement regarding the snow tonight
Winter By The Numbers
The City of Fort Wayne has used 18,000 tons of salt so far this winter at a cost of $1.1 million.
The City of Fort Wayne has replaced 742 plow-truck under-blades so far this winter at a cost of $44,390.
The City of Fort Wayne has spent $300,000 in overtime to plow and salt streets this winter.
The City of Fort Wayne has spent $115,000 to hire contractors to assist with plowing this winter.
Costs for the additional fuel used by plow trucks operating around the clock are not available at this time.
New style of salt being used:
Early last week, because of the high demand for road salt nationwide, the City began looking for alternate sources to supply treatment options for slick streets. Over the next few days residents may notice a different color to the substances being put down on streets. A brown-colored de-icing liquid mixed with beet juice will be used on major streets, and a new supplier of salt will deliver salt later this week that will likely be a different color than the blue we usually use.
Plow schedule:
Plow trucks will remain on the main arterial streets needed for emergency vehicles until it stops snowing and the main roads are cleared of ice and snow. Then crews will move to secondary streets such as those used for bus routes and 24-hours after it stops snowing, plow trucks will move to residential streets if we receive 3 or more inches of snow. After the residential streets are plowed we will apply a sand/beet juice/deicing mixture on these neighborhood streets to combat the heavy ice left by recent rains.
Information from the Indiana State Police:
Indiana’s next blast of winter weather is upon us. Warnings about hazardous driving conditions will be issued by city, county and state law enforcement as well as by local and national media. Many will heed the warnings. Many more will ignore the warnings. With another major storm approaching, the Indiana State Police, again, remind motorists to limit travel when possible. If travel is not necessary, then stay home. Most calls for service received by the Indiana State Police and other police agencies during winter storms are for crashes and motorists that slide off state roads and interstates. It is important to remember that snow and ice covered roads do not cause crashes. The crashes are caused by unsafe driving on the snow and ice covered roadway.
If you choose to drive during poor or hazardous driving conditions you must:
1. Leave sooner and expect your travel time to be twice as long as normal
2. Drive slower
3. Increase the following distance between you and the vehicle in front of you by at least five times greater than normal
4. Approach intersections with great care; other drivers not paying attention will slide through red lights
5. Signal all lane changes and turning movements
The posted speed limit may be more than twice as fast as the reduced speed drivers should travel to reduce the possibility of a collision or loss of control that puts a vehicle into a retaining wall, ditch or another motorist. Indiana code 9-21-5-1 specifies “Speed shall be restricted as necessary to avoid colliding with a person, vehicle, or other conveyance on, near or entering a highway.” Motorists losing control of their vehicle or who are involved in a crash resulting in a police report should expect to be cited for this offense, which carries a maximum fine of $500.
If yo
u are involved in a crash, are uninjured and all vehicles are drivable, involved drivers should move to a safe place completely off the road, be it the next exit or to the parking lot of a business to await law enforcement response for a police report. It is important to remember crashes involving injury or lane blockage receive priority attention ahead of property damage crashes. So, keep in mind, it may be an extended period of time before law enforcement arrives. The reason and purpose for moving drivable vehicles off the road is to avoid secondary crashes of other inattentive motorists crashing into your scene or sideswiping you if you’ve only moved to the side of the road.
Something else to keep in mind, crash scenes with vehicles disabled in the roadway and state police presence may have the state police vehicle facing the wrong way with emergency lights and headlights on. This is to warn approaching motorists of impending danger.
Remember, Indiana’s Move Over Law states motorists MUST change lanes away from the emergency or utility vehicle if they can do it SAFELY. If not possible to move away from the emergency vehicle, motorists must SLOW DOWN and proceed with caution. Please give us room to work. We are asking motorists to SLOW DOWN and/or MOVE OVER WHEN SAFE TO DO SO.
Vehicles included in the Move Over law are:
• Police vehicles
• Ambulances
• Fire trucks and rescue equipment
• Highway incident-response vehicles
• Highway work vehicles-including snow plows
• Vehicle recovery equipment (tow trucks)
The point of not calling police agencies for road information during snow emergencies cannot be overstressed. Calling police departments about road conditions may delay action on critical life emergency 911 calls. Road conditions are likely the same for the area you want to know about as it is looking out your front window.
Citizens calling state police facilities to ask for road conditions will be directed to either call the Indiana Department of Transportation’s Road and Weather automated system at 800-262-7623 or visit the INDOT traffic map at http://indot.carsprogram.org/main.jsf. The 800 phone service is voice activated and updated with timely road conditions across Indiana. The INDOT web link allows users to check on specific locations for current closures and other road information.
For Indiana County Travel Status Reports, visit this link: http://www.in.gov/dhs/traveladvisory.
