With weather forecasts predicting temperatures to drop Thursday night and several inches of snow to fall Friday, city officials are asking residents to prepare for travel conditions and limit time outdoors.
Tim McCorkell, the city’s street maintenance manager, said about 210 employees will work 12-hour shifts, running around 60 snow trucks — 55 of which have snow plows. They’ll start by putting brine solution on the roadway about 12 hours before the weather comes in.
“We’ll continue around the clock until it gets addressed,” he said.
McCorkell said the city prioritizes treating main arterial streets. Once those roads are clear, city employees then clear residential or collector streets near hospitals, schools and areas with steep hills. According to a city press release Wednesday, Tulsa’s neighborhood streets are generally left untreated (excluding hospital access streets) due to the focus on main roads and emergency routes.
“We send the trucks out on all the arterial routes. We have 35 routes, and there’s trucks that go out in all directions throughout the city and begin in different areas,” McCorkell said, adding the city maintains more than 1,700 lane miles.
The city is responsible for clearing snow and ice from all arterial streets, including bridges, hills and overpasses, plus L.L. Tisdale Parkway and Gilcrease Expressway (excluding the turnpike section). The Oklahoma Department of Transportation maintains all other highways in Tulsa’s city limits.
Tulsa County Highway District crews are also planning to install plows and sanders on trucks and begin pretreating bridges and “known trouble spots” Thursday, according to a county statement.
That effort will continue through the weekend, with crews working rotating shifts until roads reach acceptable driving conditions. Tulsans can find the county’s road treatment priorities at www.tulsacounty.org/gis.
Drivers should stay about 200 feet behind snow trucks to let them do their jobs, McCorkell said.
“If you don’t have to be out — which this storm looks like it’s going to be pretty severe — I wouldn’t go out,” McCorkell said. “Just give the employees the room to work on the road.”
The City of Tulsa also recommends residents:
- use space heaters safely and never leave them unattended;
- operate generators outdoors only;
- never use ovens or grills as heating sources; and
- check on neighbors, especially older adults and those with limited mobility.
To protect property and improve safety, residents should:
- pre-locate their city water meter can in case of frozen or busted pipes as the snow can make meter cans hard to find; and
- turn off all water sprinkler systems.
Extended cold weather can also lead to waterline breaks. Residents can:
- check the city’s Waterline Break Board; and
- report unlisted breaks by calling (918) 596-9488.
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