CREVE COEUR, Mo. — Larry Johnson of MoDOT is on day two of pre-treating the roads.
"Since yesterday, I went through four tanks," Johnson said.
They use a mixture of beet juice and salt brine in their pre-treat trucks.
"It’s all a liquid. Sometimes we use just water and salt, and sometimes we add beet juice. It works at a lower freezing point," said Bob Becker of MoDOT. "We're just being prepared and that’s the best we can do with the current forecast."
It takes about an hour and a half to drop a full 1,500-gallon load of the solution.
MoDOT said pre-treating the roads will save time on clearing the snow that does accumulate.
"We know something is coming we ask people to watch out for our trucks give us plenty of room were out there and the conditions aren’t the best because it’s snowing or whatever its doing out there we are trying to make the roads safe. But give us plenty of room out there, slow down you won’t have the normal stopping distance," said Becker.
MoDOT says beet juice isn't cheap, but the advantages outweigh the price and they consider it a good value.
IDOT originally told us yesterday they didn't think pre-treating the roads would help because the storm was forecasted to start with rain.
The forecast changed, and they've since changed their minds, so IDOT crews have been out since 11 a.m. Thursday morning prepping the roads.