As East Tennessee braces for another bout of winter weather, TDOT is taking proactive steps to mitigate the anticipated snowfall's impact on travel. WVLT reports that TDOT's crews will be pretreating interstates and state routes on Tuesday. Mark Nagi, TDOT spokesperson, urges the public to "please give them the extra room they need to do their jobs efficiently, and most importantly, safely." Snow is forecasted to blanket East Tennessee by Wednesday morning, prompting preparations.

According to another report by WATE, TDOT crews from Region One (Knoxville) and Region Two (Chattanooga) are treating roads with salt brine while planning full crew deployment for early Tuesday, and even as certain areas received their pretreatment, the conditions in the valleys and higher elevations such as Campbell and Cocke Counties make preparation a challenging and year-round effort, with the storm system expected to sweep through areas north of I-40 more likely to accumulate over an inch of snow and the northern Plateau, Southeast Kentucky, and higher elevations of the Smokies potentially seeing more than two inches.

Given the variability and potential severity of the weather, TDOT has its salt supplies ready and personnel on standby. WBIR's article adds that there's already a Winter Storm Watch in place for portions of Kentucky and the northern plateau until noon Wednesday, and while snow accumulation on roads is a concern, the bitterly cold temperatures forecasted for Thursday could allow the snow to linger on grassy surfaces for several days.

Rae Anne Bradley, TDOT Region Two Communications Officer, stated to WATE "We want to do everything we can to get the roads cleared as quickly and safely as possible," expressing TDOT's readiness and public commitment, though advisory still stands for travelers to avoid roads during inclement weather conditions, and for those who must travel near working TDOT crews, to proceed with caution and provide ample space for their operations.