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CDOT Prepares To Keep Roads Clear During Winter Storm

DENVER (CBS4)- Road crews with the Colorado Department of Transportation are getting ready for this weekend's heavy snowfall and winter storm.

CDOT has more than 700 pieces of equipment across the state with 106 plows ready to concentrate on the Denver metro area. More than 50 plows are ready to clear snow along the I-70 mountain corridor.

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(credit: CBS)

Crews will be loading up with sand, Mag Chloride and Ice Slicer.

This weekend snow plows will also have a little extra help. Snow plow escorts will be driving along with the plows where traffic is temporarily stopped in places like Silverthorne, Frisco and Copper Mountain.

"What we are doing when we deploy a snow plow escort is we are holding the traffic. We send our plows up and then traffic is escorted with state patrol up the hill. We have a continuous flow of traffic on the clearest road we can. And we take you up the incline through Eisenhower Tunnel," said CDOT spokeswoman Mindy Crane. "So the safest we could make the roads we will and we do that by having them come up behind our plows."

CDOT also reminds drivers that one of the most important things before heading out on the roads is to check the tires to make sure there is enough tread to grip the snow.

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I-70 in Summit County on Friday afternoon (credit: Jim Benemann)
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