Crews work to keep roads clear amid winter weather in Southeast Michigan

With Southeast Michigan experiencing a mix of snow and frigid temperatures this week, drivers have to prepare themselves for what the road conditions could look like.

When it comes to snow removal, timing is everything.

"Especially when there's rush hour traffic, we have, you know, we run at the same pace traffic does. So if traffic is really heavy and congested, we're not going to be as efficient moving through the traffic and applying salt," said Scott Cabauatan, deputy director of the Wayne County Department of Public Services.

Officials say the temperatures will play a major role in road treatment.

"Salt works great from 20 (degrees) and above 20 to 30 (degrees) is perfect for salting. When you get below 20, it begins to lose effectiveness. You get into the single digits, and it's pretty ineffective," said Craig Bryson, senior communications manager of the Road Commission of Oakland County.

The Road Commission of Oakland County has a fleet of over 100 snowplows.

"We've got about 155 people right now who can drive salt trucks. So spreading those people out so that we can have coverage, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as we have for almost a month straight now, is the biggest challenge," Bryson said.

Meanwhile, the Wayne County Department of Public Services has about 150 plows. The county is broken down into 100 routes.

"If we have available drivers, we'll stick additional trucks out there. So we won't stay with the one truck to one route. We will put additional trucks out there if we have the available resources," Cabauatan said.

Officials say that people should keep in mind the sheer number of miles crews have to cover.

"Our snow and ice clearing routes total up to somewhere between 4,500 to 5,000 lane miles. So that's about the equivalent of driving from here to LA and back," Cabauatan said.

Michigan Law requires that drivers stay at least 200 feet behind plow trucks.