DENVER (KDVR) — RTD says they’re prepared to do things differently in order to keep operations going in this week’s bitter cold.
Tina Jaquez, public relations manager with RTD, said they’re prepared for winter weather at any time.
“Our facilities people are out overnight making sure our park and rides and facilities are clear of snow. We’re trying to make the platforms as safe as possible and the park and rides safe.”
She said a big concern is equipment freezing in the cold temps.
“We run our light rail cars overnight, usually out of service vehicles, so that ice doesn’t build up on the overhead wires,” said Jaquez.
Jaquez said switches on the tracks are also at risk of icing over.
“We have to keep (them) active and keep them warm. We’ll exercise the switches where we’ll move those back and forth so they don’t freeze up,” Jaquez said.
She says RTD drivers are trained each year to handle winter driving conditions. But certain routes may be unsafe for their vehicles.
“The buses in the foothills, if we are in chain restrictions we do put chains on our vehicles which can take a little extra time too, but we are prepared to do that. There might be detours on some routes where there’s too much ice or snow for some of our vehicles.”
Jaquez encourages riders to sign up for service alerts to receive messages about delays and cancelations.