"It's a small storm. Temperatures are above the freezing point, so we're not expecting too much," said PennDOT's Philadelphia County Manager, Steve Niknam.
Still, Niknam explains PennDOT doesn't take any storm lightly.
So preparations at the PennDOT yard in Hunting Park and across the area have been underway. Trucks were out brining the roads overnight and Wednesday morning.
And the work continued at noon.
"Right now we're preparing," said Niknam. "We have crews coming in, putting plows on and salt in trucks getting ready for the storm."
PennDOT has 95,000 tons of salt available for use and over 180 department trucks on hand for this storm.
So far this year the agency has spent $4.8 million of its $31.8 million budget.
Just to give you an idea of how light this winter is compared to last, as of February 4th last year, PennDOT had used roughly 102,000 tons of salt on the roads. This year they've used only about 22,500 tons.
"It's almost no comparison," said Niknam. "Last year by this time we had three feet of snow. This year we've had a only few inches and it's been warm."
