ARDOT Winter Weather Strike Team to conduct emergency preparedness drill

The Arkansas Department of Transportation’s (ARDOT) Winter Weather Strike Team will conduct training drills in central Arkansas from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 31.
The drills will consist of training drivers, performing equipment checks and maintenance, road-testing snowplow trucks, and testing communications with the Emergency Operations Center.
“We do everything we can to be prepared and work efficiently when winter weather hits,” said Michael Kelly, ARDOT Staff Maintenance Engineer and Emergency Management Liaison Officer. “These drills help us see both our strengths and areas for improvement. It’s our job to keep our roadways safe, and we take that responsibility seriously.”

The Winter Weather Strike Team was created to assist with our response to winter weather events. This team works around the clock to clear snow and ice from Interstates and Highways by working in tandem with county and regional maintenance forces to ensure roadways statewide are safe. When members of the Strike Team are not responding to a winter weather event, they serve as members of striping, signing, milling, and bridge operations maintenance crews.
In addition to this annual exercise, ARDOT holds regular preparedness meetings with county maintenance crews and conducts tests of the winter weather map and features on IDriveArkansas.com.