With the National Weather Service forecasting the season’s first potentially troublesome snowfall to begin before dawn on Tuesday, Knoxville crews this morning began brining streets.

“We’ve got a great team that has mobilized early for our season’s first possible snow,” said Chad Weth, City Public Service Director. “With many snowstorms, pre-treatment can make a world of difference.”

The City’s priority Level I and II streets today are being pre-treated with the brine solution, which lowers the freezing point of water on streets and reduces the amount of snow that sticks to the pavement.

Weth said the City’s Snow and Ice Removal Plan, updated yearly, provides crews with a blueprint to follow and a clear, objective list of priorities. For example, bridges, streets carrying large volumes of traffic, and approaches to hospitals get top priority.

Public Service crews are scheduled to come to work at 2 a.m. Tuesday to make final preparations for possible snow, Weth said. They will treat roads with rock salt as needed. The goal of Public Service is always to clear or remove snow and ice from streets to expose bare pavement and permit safe and orderly flow of traffic.

Public Service Department resources and manpower are ready to deploy:

• Up to 25,000 gallons of brine, which is mixed at the City’s Public Works Service Center;
• 8,000 gallons of calcium chloride, used in extreme temperatures;
• 2,000 tons of rock salt;
• 23 trucks used for plowing and salting;
• Seven trucks used for brine application; and
• Up to 75 employees as needed for storm response.

When snow threatens, the City systematically and predictably pre-treats and then clears streets by following its Snow and Ice Removal Plan. Level I streets get immediate attention, followed in order by Level II and then Level III streets:

• Level I – main streets carrying the highest volume of traffic and providing access to hospitals; examples include Kingston Pike, Chapman Highway, Magnolia Avenue and Broadway

• Level II – streets connecting main streets, feeder streets to connector streets, and “trouble spots” and hills; examples include Sutherland Avenue, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Woodland Avenue, Moody Avenue and Cedar Lane

• Level III -- streets that are connectors to neighborhoods and main connections at the neighborhood level; examples include Island Home Drive, Jessamine Street, Bridgewater Road and Oglewood Avenue

For more information, visit the City’s complete snow plan, www.knoxvilletn.gov/snowplan. For additional winter storm information, visit www.knoxvilletn.gov/winter.