WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) – To prepare for the first snowfall of the season, Marathon Co. Highway Department inside. They check cars, do maintenance work, check oil and leaks to make sure they are safe if they need to go out Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

The crews are pretty “chill” about this snowfall. They are monitoring the conditions, but see no reason to go out early.

“It rains every day. We’ve had some frost events, but any time we think about pre-treating bridge decks and roads, then there’s a chance of rain, then it’s just a waste of money,” said Marathon Co. Highway Department Operations Supervisor John Bangart .

They would also be wasting money if they tried to pre-treat roads because it has been too hot.

– It depends entirely on how the temperature will be. You get around 29, 30 (degrees) then we can have problems with icing on bridge decks, but road temperatures today were still 47, 48 degrees, Bangart said.

But they know that the relaxed feelings can disappear. They are still prepared to send a team out Wednesday night or Thursday morning if conditions worsen.

“We’ll have our 35 plow roads out and if we need to we can have a couple of guys in tanks if the storm allows,” Bangart said.

What they are nervous about is your driving. Often it’s small events that make people think everything is fine, but pay attention.

“Slow down if you see slush on the road. Sleet is worse than snow,” Bangart said. “It can pull you into a ditch. Give our plow drivers plenty of room to do their job.”

The department will have two new trucks for this winter season.

The department is also looking at adding new machines for the next winter season. What will it be? The department is not ready to tell yet.

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