BALTIMORE — Christmas is two days away and this weekend is one of the busiest of the year when it comes to traveling.
Charlie Gischlar with MDOT’s State Highway Administration said there are some things to keep in mind if you plan on traveling by car this weekend.
“The first thing is to make sure you’re never in a hurry. Again, lower the speed watch for any potential areas that just look like they’re wet, they’re going to be frozen. Give yourself a lot of extra time if you do have to travel,” Gischlar said.
He said because of the heavy rainfall on Thursday, MDOT had difficulties pretreating the roads.
“We couldn’t pretreat the roadways because it was raining and the rain would simply wash it off the roads. We did pretreat west of Frederick County,” Gischlar said.
The actual treatment of the roads started on Friday. Gischlar said drivers should also be extra careful on bridge ramps and overpasses because they tend to freeze first.
“Any place that just looks like it’s wet assume that it’s ice, because that actually came to fruition with that temperature drop,” Gischlar said.
High winds were also an issue on Friday causing tree limbs to topple over.
RELATED: Power outages, downed trees hit Baltimore area on wintry Friday
“You might have power outages as well, as they fall on the wires, so that’s going to affect traffic signals. Folks have to know that when a traffic signal goes dark due to electricity outages, all of that intersection must stop, it’s state law,” Gischlar said.
Drivers must make sure to treat powerless traffic signals like a four way stop. Also, make sure to thoroughly check your vehicle is in good working condition before you hit the road.
“We don’t want anybody, breaking down you know, mechanical breakdowns that’s a very dangerous situation on the side of the road. Make sure you take some time to do a five-minute walk around, make sure your tires, battery, and fluid levels are up-to-date,” Gischlar said.
Gischlar said people can also look online to see which roads have been treated before they hit the road to make it a smoother commute. To learn more about which roads have been treated click here.
