Frankfort, Ky. – As winter approaches, Kentucky state officials are proactively preparing to maintain safe roadway conditions. Allen Blair, the deputy director of public affairs for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, states, “We are ready. We have been through a lot of training in the last month. We have our salt stockpiled and all of the materials on hand for whenever the winter weather hits.”
During a recent Budget Review Subcommittee on Transportation meeting held in Frankfort, discussions focused on last year’s expenditures for winter weather and expectations for the upcoming season. State highway engineer James Ballinger emphasized the importance of efficient spending, noting, “That’s dollars that we don’t see again, so it’s incumbent upon us to make sure that every single dollar is expended as efficiently as possible when it comes to snow and ice events.”
For the 2023-2024 winter season, the state allocated over $47 million for equipment, materials, and labor related to snow and ice removal. However, expectations for increased costs loom due to a projected environmental shift from La Nina to El Nino. Ballinger remarked on the financial implications, saying, “The last transition year we had, we spent about $65 million… adjusted for inflation, that would be about a $70 to $73 million expenditure.”
Officials have prepared a stockpile that currently includes 369,000 tons of salt. This includes the necessary plows and materials to tackle winter storms effectively. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet employs 2,300 workers who will be engaged in keeping over 27,000 centerline miles and 64,000 lane-miles clear, including 9,000 bridges.
Ballinger added, “It is a lot of work…. It’s always a little bit stressful during that time, but it’s when our teams do their best work.” With extensive planning and preparedness, transportation officials express confidence that they can handle the challenges of this winter season comprehensively.
