UPDATE: Alpharetta Makes Decision on Office Hours

UPDATE at 10:18 p.m.:

All city of Alpharetta administrative offices will remain closed until 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17 due to hazardous road conditions. Non-essential personnel should report to work accordingly.

All essential personnel should report for duty per your assigned shift schedule unless otherwise directed by your supervisor or department director.

ORIGINAL STORY (Submitted by the city of Alpharetta):

It looks like Old Man Winter is largely going to leave us alone today.

Tomorrow, however, we could see some commuting problems. With temperatures dropping into the 20s overnight, we anticipate issues with “black ice” on area roadways for the morning commute.

Our Public Works crews will be hitting the streets at 4 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17 to treat bridges, overpasses and low-lying areas and will then work through the morning responding to areas where black ice is spotted. They will be concentrating on main travel roads and commute corridors, so icy patches within subdivisions and neighborhoods may persist throughout the morning.

The city of Alpharetta is advising all motorists to drive with extreme caution Tuesday Morning. Remember that black ice is dangerous because it cannot be seen on roadways and develops in patches. When driving tomorrow morning, please do the following:

Slow down

No one, no matter how good a driver or how accustomed they may be to winter driving, can safely drive at highway speeds on ice. At only 10 mph, a driver can easily lose control of her or his vehicle if it crosses a patch of ice.

Leave plenty of room between you and other vehicles

It generally takes about nine times as much distance to stop on an icy surface as it does on a dry roadway. An average car traveling 45 mph on a roadway takes approximately 196 feet to safely come to a complete stop, so the same vehicle traveling at that speed would take roughly 1,700 feet to come to a stop on an icy road.

Avoid quick braking and/or acceleration

Quick starts and stops are great ways to increase the odds of losing control of your vehicle. If you do start to skid, the best thing to do is to remain calm then take your foot off the gas pedal until the vehicle slows and you can regain control.

Please watch out for our road crews

Our crews will be on the roads treating icy patches in the morning. Frequently this involves applying treatments by hand, requiring them to be in the travel lane. They are out there taking care of you and keeping you safe, please slow down and give them room to do that safely. We want everyone to go home happy and healthy at the end of the day.

Thanks, and let’s be safe out there.