Common Council

Freezing Rain Tonight Will Make for Ice-Covered Roads Today & Tomorrow

If you can, stay home tonight and into tomorrow. The freezing rain due to come tonight will cause significant travel problems this evening and for the Tuesday morning commute.

When the freezing rain begins tonight, the Streets Division will dispatch 32 crews to apply salt to the main thoroughfares of Madison. An additional 10 trucks will be on to apply sand to neighborhood streets. These vehicles will remain on the roads through the course of this storm.

Freezing rain is expected to begin sometime around 7:00pm this evening and cause accumulations of ice with forecasts predicting it could be as much as a quarter inch.

While there is some uncertainty with the forecast, everyone should expect to encounter slippery, ice-covered roads. The Tuesday morning commute is expected to be equally difficult.  To reiterate, if you can stay home tonight and tomorrow, please do so.

Crews will be out sanding and salting. However, since this storm will last all night long, roads are likely to freeze over after treatment. Crews will cycle through the routes again and again – but you should expect to encounter icy and slippery roadways.

If you must travel, you need to make good choices on the roads for your and everyone else's safety. Be slow. Brake early. Stay alert.  All vehicles will struggle with these icy conditions, so please be cautious.

Streets Division staff will be monitoring the roads and the weather carefully. Operations will adjust as the weather dictates and future updates will be provided.