Press Release – As very cold air approaches Texas, crews with the Texas Department of Transportation are pretreating many roadways throughout the nine-county Brownwood District as light wintry precipitation is possible late Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

In Eastland County, crews are pretreating all lanes of Interstate 20 with a brine solution. Other major highways, bridges and intersections throughout the district are also being pretreated with brine and other materials. Motorists are urged to be on the lookout for slower-moving TxDOT vehicles involved in the pretreatment process.

TxDOT has extensively used brine, a solution of water and salt, in recent years as an effective pretreatment for roadways prior to freezing precipitation. The brine is applied using spray nozzles attached to tanks mounted on the back of TxDOT trucks, forming a milky appearance on the roadway. The brine helps to prevent the bonding of frozen precipitation to the pavement, aiding in the removal of snow and ice.

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Although widespread travel impacts are not expected with this weather system, TxDOT crews will remain vigilant in treating roadways as needed. Travelers are encouraged to plan ahead and check roadway conditions prior to travel through Thursday morning.

TxDOT roadway conditions statewide are available at DriveTexas.org or by calling 1-800-452-9292. The Brownwood District Twitter feed (@TxDOTBWD) will be updated as road conditions change. Other TxDOT Twitter feeds and the TxDOT Facebook page are also valuable resources for travel conditions across the state.

More winter weather travel information is available on the TxDOT website.

TxDOT’s Brownwood District includes Brown, Coleman, Comanche, Eastland, Lampasas, McCulloch, Mills, San Saba and Stephens counties.

For news media inquiries, contact Andrew.Carlson@TxDOT.gov or (325) 643-0413.