The Iowa Department of Transportation is looking out for the travelers this winter season. Weather information centers are being placed in nearly every rest stop in Iowa.

The expansion is due to a trial run of the weather monitors that were placed at nine rest areas this summer.

“The response of the traveling public to these weather centers has been so positive the DOT has decided to expand the number of sites to rest areas throughout the state,” said Will Zitterich, DOT maintenance services engineer.

These weather centers may be a help to students and faculty especially. With the probability of snow and ice covered roads from now until spring, the weather stations will be of use to those traveling long or short distances.

“The weather centers will inform the traveler of weather conditions. We are adding road maps, and possibly adding road temperatures to the air temperatures. We will soon have them in 38 rest areas,” Steve McMenamin, rest area administrator said.

Three rest areas are not getting the weather centers: Grinnell eastbound, Loveland eastbound and westbound, and the Loveland overlook. Because the rest areas have open fronts, the weather stations cannot go into them. Most rest areas now have an enclosed vestibule, but these three do not have enclosed fronts.

“If we decide to renovate them, we will probably put the weather stations in them,” McMenamin said.

Surprisingly, January through March are usually the lowest months for fatalities. Scott Falb, traffic safety specialist for the DOT, said this is because people usually are paying more attention to driving in winter weather. A lot of fender-benders may occur, but usually not as many fatalities as in the summer months.

The average number of fatalities during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend is six. DOT officials were hoping this number would decrease this year. Unfortunately, it increased by two.

In three of the past five years, there have been nearly as many or more accidents as there were during the counting period. In 1992 and 1994, there were six fatalities on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and four during the rest of the holiday. This year, there were seven fatalities on Wednesday, and eight during the holiday weekend.

The weather centers are not the only new things the DOT is implementing. Last winter, a procedure called “pre-wetting” was a success for the DOT. It is now a big part of this year’s plan to snow and ice removal.

Pre-wetting uses 60- to 100-gallon truck tanks that spray brine on sand and salt mixtures when they are spread on roads. This activates the melting power of salt and keeps it on the roadway.

In addition to pre-wetting, the DOT is trying a trial anti-icing project in which salt brine will be spread before the snow and ice falls to prevent it from forming on the road.

In October, a 15-year high in traffic fatalities was recorded.

It was also the highest number of deaths recorded in a month so far this year. Most of these accidents were single vehicle accidents where the driver lost control, Falb said.

The months of June through October are usually the months with the most fatalities.

“People are more likely to go out for something they really don’t need when the weather isn’t bad,” Falb said.

If the roads seem threatening, then people are more likely to wait, he said.

Until the weather centers are installed, the DOT advises to drive with caution. Although the weather centers will be helpful, they will not be able to stop carelessness, McMenamin said.