NEWS
TxDOT preps area highways for winter storms
WICHITA FALLS DISTRICT – All nine counties (Archer, Baylor, Clay, Cooke, Montague, Throckmorton Wichita, Wilbarger, and Young) in the Wichita Falls District spent today preparing for the winter storm predicted to hit Tuesday night into Wednesday. The Wichita District takes care of 6,500 lane miles of roadways in our 9 counties.
TxDOT crews pretreated bridges and overpasses with brine. Some areas utilized two large tanker trucks to spread brine quickly. These tankers also delivered extra brine to maintenance yards. Snowplows and V-Box with spreaders were hooked up and tested on our fleet of 79 snowplows for the district.
In the Wichita Falls area, the main lanes of I-44, US 287, and Kell Fwy (US 82) were pretreated with brine. The bridges and overpasses were treated as well. Other lesser volume highways had bridges and overpasses treated.
In the Gainesville area the main lanes of I-35 were pretreated with brine. The bridges and overpasses were included as usual. Other lesser volume highways had bridges and overpasses treated.
Pretreating the main lanes of our highest volume freeways is done when a storm system is expected to dump large amounts of snow in a relatively short amount of time. TxDOT employs this strategy only on Tier one roadways.
Tuesday, crews will finish up pretreatment of Tier 1 and 2 highways as well as moving to Tier 3 and 4 roadways. More brine will be made to keep storage units full as we put down more.
We will also be sending half of our crew home near lunchtime to rest. This half crew will return at midnight to start a 12-hour shift around the clock at all of our offices.
Tuesday will also be a good day for motorists to plan ahead for their Wednesday travel plans.
- Check your oil, antifreeze, and windshield wiper blades. Top off items if needed.
- Double-check your tire pressure and your spare tire.
- Fill up your gas tank hours before the storm hits.
- Pack your snow brush, ice melt, snow shovel, tool kit.
- Don’t forget warm boots, socks, gloves, and coat.
- Is your phone charged? Pack your cables.
Motorists can obtain travel information by visiting drivetexas.org or calling (800) 452-9292 Twitter for the Wichita Falls District is also available for breaking conditions. @TxDOTWF
After nearly three months of no rain, Mother Nature brought the showers this past week.
Downtown Bowie rain reports varied from 7 to 8 inches, while the Saint Jo area reported a 10-inch total. The city water plant in Bowie reported 5.55 inches on Sept. 30 with 1.6 Oct. 1-3.
Nocona saw a total of 6.31 inches of rain across Sept. 26 to Oct. 3.
On Oct. 6, Lake Amon G. Carter saw a level of 917.39 mean sea level rising to 81.31% full. Just one week earlier the lake was 73.6% full, while one year ago it was 94.01%. The lake is full at 920msl.
Lake Nocona was 73.7% full at 823.02 on Oct 6. One week earlier it was 70.41% full and one year ago it was 92.41%. The lake is full at 827.5 msl.
By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
One Montague County City has joined the battle against any data centers being built in this county and there is a petition drive underway to urge the commissioner’s court to keep data centers out of Montague County.
At a Sept. 28 called meeting of the Saint Jo City Council, officials unanimously approved a resolution stating its opposition to the “siting, permitting, construction or operation of data centers and similar hyperscale computing facilities within the city limits or the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.”
City Secretary Debbie Dennis said several citizens approached Councilor Jack Dunn about their data center concerns and he helped prepare a resolution. The council gave unanimous support.
Read the full story in your Thursday Bowie News.
Montague County Judge Kevin Benton has signed an order lifting the outdoor burn ban effective Oct. 7.
Persons are still urged to be cautious when they are out working in the countryside to avoid any spark that could cause a wildfire.
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