A wintry mix of precipitation is predicted for Washington County over the next couple of days, and County Engineer Jacob Thorius says the secondary road employees are supplied and ready to respond.

The county has about 22 vehicles total to use during a winter storm, including eight dump trucks to plow snow and dump salt, 12 motor graders for gravel routes, and two pickup trucks with blades to address intersections. Thorius shares where the county’s salt supply is at this season, “It’s looking good, we stock up every year after the end of the previous winter, so we’ve reloaded over the summer. We’re starting the season off with about 22-2300 tons of salt in our shed. That will last us hopefully the winter and then some. If not we do have the ability to order more to refill that shed, so I’m not worried about that, right now we’ve got plenty of material.”

Thorius reminds residents that the county road crew doesn’t work 24/7 like the Department of Transportation does to clear state roads. His employees typically work from 5 a.m.-5 p.m. during a winter event, and gravel routes usually take a couple days to get all cleared. He asks motorists to be patient while plow trucks and motor graders are on the road, and to give them plenty of space to avoid any incidents.