The Atlanta Department of Transportation (ATLDOT) displayed the City’s inclement weather response preparations in advance of the 2025-2026 winter season during a press conference.
Media outlets had the opportunity to capture visuals of winter weather equipment, salt domes, and operational staging areas, as well as speak with department leadership about readiness strategies to ensure safe mobility during a winter weather event.
Allen Smith, ATLDOT deputy commissioner, said last year was “definitely” an anomaly to say the least, referring to the two different snow/ice storms in the previous winter season.
“We had one storm and another one right after that, but we are glad we were prepared. Then we handled that storm and the other one very well,” he said. “Every year, we prepare a plan for snow and ice year-round because our goal is to be fully staffed and prepared, from an equipment standpoint, material standpoint, staffing standpoint, and to ensure we are well ahead of any winter weather.”
ATLDOT has the same thing planned for this cycle of winter weather coming up as well. Smith says they are making sure they have the essential equipment in place and ensuring they have contractor support if Atlanta experiences a situation like it did last year.
As far as equipment, Smith says they have great partnerships with the National Weather Service and other forecasting methods.
“What that allows us to do is get a good feel of what’s to come. Earlier this year, we were able to get out ahead of the storm and use what is called a brine application, which is just a saltwater solution,” he said. “It lets us pretreat the roads, so when the snow falls, it has a bit harder time freezing over, which really helped us because once the snow fell, we were able to get out with our salt trucks.”
Currently, ATLDOT has 11 salt trucks on hand and nine brine trucks, as well as contract support and vendors to call upon for additional resources, according to Smith.
Additionally, Smith says ATLDOT does not handle interstates; the Georgia Department of Transportation does.
“We handle our priority one routes and our priority two routes within the city, which are our main thoroughfares. If we do have an event that lasts a little bit longer, I believe the second event earlier this year lasted a little bit longer than we expected,” he said. “We will treat the park one route and the priority two routes, and then we will start getting into the local streets to give those residents some relief.”
The last winter weather in Atlanta brought two storms, one snow and the other, ice. Smith says snow is a bit easier to deal with, while ice is much more challenging. The good thing, he says, is that ATLDOT maintains the same approach with a pre-treatment phase.
“If we can get ahead of the storm and clear the roads to make it a little easier and less likely to freeze over, we will do that a lot of the time. Down in Atlanta, we normally get freezing rain a lot of the time, and that can be troublesome, but we’re always going to try to pretreat the roads ahead of time,” he said.
Smith says during these winter weather storms for drivers should stay off the road and stay home, which makes their jobs easier to get out in the streets to dissolve the ice and clear the roads.
“If you don’t have to be on the road, please don’t be on the roads,” he said. “I know a lot of times people might want to chance it, but our advice is to watch the forecast and prepare for the worst. Stop by the grocery stores and get supplies ahead of time because the weather can change at the drop of a dime, and before you know it, you can find yourself in a slick situation.”
For updates throughout the winter weather season, visit https://atldot.atlantaga.gov.
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Isaiah Singleton
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