McAlester News-Capital, McAlester, OK

Local News

January 28, 2009

Slick roads lead to mishaps

By James Beaty

Drivers are still sliding off of roads today due to the icy winter weather, Pittsburg County Sheriff Joel Kerns said this morning, but most are going slow enough to avoid bad accidents.

“We were extremely lucky last night,” Kerns said. “I’ve been out since 4 this morning and we’ve had nothing but calls for assists to get people out of ditches.”

The drivers the sheriff’s department have been in contact with have been going slow enough to avoid serious accidents, he said.

That’s different than what the sheriff’s department saw overnight Monday and on Tuesday morning, when there were more serious accidents, Kerns said.

“I think people realized it was bad,” Kerns said. “There ain’t no reason anybody ought to be out trying anything on this. Everybody stay at home or be careful.”

Kerns had some advice for those who do get out on the roads.

“Hopefully people will go slow enough that nobody will get injured,” he said.

Kerns predicted it will be a while before driving conditions get back to normal.

“When the sun comes out, it’s going to get sloppy,” he said.

While Kerns spoke with the News-Capital, another call came in from a deputy who came upon yet another driver who had slid off the road, this time in Savanna.

Kerns had some advice for drivers. “Take it slow. Give Mother Nature another day or two.”

At Troop D highway patrol headquarters in McAlester, Capt. Jeff Sewell said things were going relatively well this morning.

“We’ve attended to a lot of people in ditches,” he said. Conditions were rougher north of McAlester, he said.

The local Oklahoma Highway Patrol office responded to 20 non-injury wrecks on Tuesday, and three with minor injuries.

Sewell said the highway patrol is hoping that some of the ice on the roads will melt by this afternoon.

Meanwhile, workers from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation continue to work 12-hour shifts so crews can be on the job 24 hours a day.

“We’ve probably put out from 500 to 700 tons of sand and salt mixture,” said Rick Huddleston, maintenance supervisor at the ODOT office in McAlester.

Crews started on Monday and have been working steadily on state highways and roads, he said.

During a recent 12-hour shift, ODOT sent out 39 loads of sand and salt, each load carrying 10 tons. Still, Huddleston advised there are numerous slick spots because of the amount of sleet, snow and freezing rain that has fallen.

ODOT workers were also applying more sand and salt on U.S. Highway 69, south from Hereford Lane to the U.S. Highway 270 overpass this morning, Huddleston said.

Even when the ice starts melting, drivers should remain cautious, he said.

He figures some bridges still have from 2 to 3 inches of ice built up.

“If the sun will ever break, we can blade them off,” he said. “But even when we blade it off, it will be still be glazed for awhile.” As a result, more sand and salt will have to be spread again. That’s one of the reasons the bridge maintenance is a continual process.

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