Metro Detroit road commissions concerned about formation of icy roads overnight

Various road agencies work throughout night

DETROIT – Heavy snow moves out of Metro Detroit, making way for bitterly cold conditions with icy roads a concern overnight and into the morning as temperatures plummet overnight.

Salt trucks and snowplows were deployed throughout the day and well into the night, but the damage is already done as the roads were very wet, causing concern for those working late at night or coming into work in the morning hours.

Snow started tapering off around 9 p.m. Monday (Jan. 24) in Shelby Township, leaving a blanket of what some are calling Christmas snow.

Crews have been out all evening pushing, plowing, and shoveling the sidewalks in the neighborhoods.

“Cleans it almost better than the shovel does,” said snow blower Nate Nagy. “I got a snow blower, I got a shovel, but this snow blower for this light powdery snow does it faster than anything else.”

The temperature will drop into the single digits, which has road commissions across Metro Detroit on high alert.

“One of the concerns is that as the temperature drop, the salt becomes less effective, and in the early morning hours, we’re concerned that if we don’t have things cleaned and dried up, we could get some refreeze, which can be a problem before the morning rush hour,” said Craig Bryson, Road Commission for Oakland County.

“You’ll have some concerns with just the extreme temperatures, and we want to warn drivers to be safe out there and definitely watch out for those slick spots because they’re out there,” said Eric Dimoff, Macomb County Department of Roads.

While hitting the roads, make sure your car is full of windshield washer fluids; The various road agencies will be working throughout the night, but science dictates that the rock salt does next to nothing in these projected frigid temperatures


About the Authors:

Brandon Carr is a digital content producer for ClickOnDetroit and has been with WDIV Local 4 since November 2021. Brandon is the 2015 Solomon Kinloch Humanitarian award recipient for Community Service.