Road crews hustling to keep roads from getting too slick

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -

The drive home Thursday night isn't so treacherous. But work is being done today to keep you safe tomorrow.

Armed and ready with a full tank of a salt-brine mixture, road crews with the Tennessee Department of Transportation are working ahead of the weather. "We put that on the roads and it gets down in the cracks and everything like that, it dries. Then if it starts doing anything [the weather] it'll start melting it before we can get out there to it," said David Lewis with TDOT.

When the storm does hit, salt will be used by crews to keep roads safe in each county. "Well we're bringing all of our crews in at 3 a.m. We're going to have all of our trucks loaded with salt out on their routes," added Lewis.

Rewind to last week, the cars and conditions made it a big challenge for salt trucks to treat roads. It was also tough for tow trucks with one goal to simply clear the way. "And the more people that park their cars on the side of the road, makes it more dangerous for other people and more dangerous for us," said John Hood with Malone's Wrecker Service.

That's why the wrecker service has all their drivers on stand-by and they're preparing to keep every driver safe. "We've got chains ready, salt ready, also some sand. We hope to be prepared for anything," added Hood.

But there's a word of warning as conditions range from sleet, freezing rain, and snow. "Ice, you can't drive on and you can't stop on," said Hood.

We checked with the Virginia Department of Transportation and as of right now, crews are pre-treating only on the Interstate. VDOT is monitoring conditions with crews on stand-by for overnight.