Icy Weather Preparations Costing More

By Jon Jordan, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The city is well ahead of the weather game with 18 trucks loaded with salt and ready to go if the roads turn nasty Monday morning.

The trucks have been loaded since Friday, three days before the ice storm has been projected to potentially hit the metro.

"Is it one of those things, prepare for the worst hope for the best? Oh, always," Mike DeGiacomo said.

Not only are the trucks ready, but road crews are expected to be out at midnight ready to start preparing the roads. That means less to worry about on your morning commute.

"When you're headed towards rush hour on Monday morning, I have to have crews on the ground in order to respond in a timely manner. So we should be able to take care of routes prior to rush hour in the morning," DeGiacomo said.

It's a process that is costing the city much more these days, in large part due to rising price of salt.

"It's never been this high," said DeGiacomo.

Salt prices have gone up so fast the city is paying more than double what they paid last year.

If the city lays all the salt in its 18 trucks just once Monday, it will cost them just over $16,000, compared to last year where the same amount on the roads would cost $7,000.

Thankfully, a mild winter so far has saved the city from spending a lot to salt the roads.