GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — With ice, sleet and snow expected to move in over West Michigan starting Wednesday, road crews are getting their plans — and skid chains — in place.

“Really what it’s about is making sure the equipment’s ready, we have plenty of materials. In this case, we need to make sure the skid chains, which haven’t been on the trucks in a few years, make sure they’re fit, make sure we have a set for every truck,” Road Commission Deputy Managing Director of Operations Jerry Byrne said Tuesday afternoon.

He said the chains will be lined up next to the trucks, but won’t actually go on until conditions call for them.

Kent, Ionia, Muskegon and Ottawa counties will be under a winter storm warning between 10 a.m. Wednesday and 4 a.m. Thursday with warnings for 1 to 3 inches of sleet or snow and up to .4 inches of ice accumulation. Some counties, including Allegan, Barry and Kalamazoo, will have an ice warning. Farther north, more snow than ice is expected.

Pretreating is not usually valuable in situations like this, Michigan Department of Transportation spokesman Nick Schirripa said, because the freezing rain washes away road salt before it hits the ground and freezes into ice. He did note that the salt itself is treated to make it stickier so it will stay in place once it gets laid down.

“There’s not a lot we can do to prepare for ice,” Schirripa said. “It’s really just kind of being on standby and waiting for it to start.”

Byrne said Kent County’s 312 miles of rural gravel roads will be the diciest if ice forms.

“You can’t pour salt on them or they’ll turn to mush when it warms up and you won’t be able to drive through them,” he explained.

He said he’s working closely with the National Weather Service to learn the latest about the track of the storm. Slight differences could mean more ice or more snow and change where each is the primary concern.

“Right now, it’s making sure … that all four (road commission complexes) are geared up for worst-case scenario, and that’s ice storm,” Byrne said.

“We need to make sure the skid chains, which haven’t been on the trucks in a few years, we can make sure they’re fit, make sure we have a set for every truck,” he said.

MDOT makes high-volume trunk lines like I-94 and US-131 its first priority but Schirripa said it won’t forget about other state roads like M-40 and US-12 in the far southern tier.

“We have the same number of drivers on every route at all times, unless there’s a need to or capability to move some resources around,” he said, explaining that the road conditions in one area may not require much help while another spot may be harder hit based on how the system plays out. “We react and adjust as weather deems appropriate.”

In Barry County, road crews will be out in full force.

“We’ll probably send trucks out and start treating the roads … to get a base of materials, sand and salt mix underneath the rain that comes down over the next few hours and then we’ll continue to treat throughout the evening, ” said Jacob Welch, the assistant managing director for the Barry County Road Commission.

The county will 18 pickup trucks and smaller trucks ready to treat more smaller areas. They say drivers should do their part to help road crews.

“If in particular at intersections, if residents can give us a little more room and just stay back from our trucks a little bit and have a little bit of patience with us we’ll get out of your way as quickly as we can,” Welch said.

Road crews are also ready to help clear roads from any downed trees and powerlines.

“Our crews will be on 24 hour dispatch ready to go out and take care of any hazards that are coming down in the road and get those off the road and keep the road as safe as we can,” Welch said.

Road crews are also ready to help clear roads from any downed trees and powerlines.

“Our crews will be on 24-hour dispatch ready to go out and take care of any hazards that are coming down in the road and get those off the road and keep the road as safe as we can,” Welch said.

CONSUMERS PREPARES FOR POSSIBLE OUTAGES

A lot of ice could mean downed tree limbs and power lines. That means Consumers Energy is getting about 300 crews in position.

“We’ve been restocking our trucks, making sure our trucks are ready. We’re prestaging crews in areas that we expect could be hit the hardest. Here in West Michigan, that includes in down in the Kalamazoo area as well as here in Grand Rapids,” Consumers Energy spokesman Josh Paciorek said.

He said Consumers has about 300 crews ready to go.

He said that in addition to the ice accumulation on the power lines themselves, wind gusts on Thursday could bring down tree limbs onto power lines.

“We’re preparing so that no matter what happens over the next couple of days, we’re ready,” Paciorek said.

He asked drivers to keep an eye out for line crews at work so they can slow down and go around.

‘JUST DON’T DRIVE’

Ice storms, Kent County’s Byrne said, are different than snow storms.

“Very rarely will we give advice to stay off the roads. But if we get even a quarter inch of ice, you can’t even walk on it, let alone drive on it,” he said. “So this is the type of event that people need to listen to the forecast, just like we are, and prepare accordingly.”

He advised people to make sure they have what they need in their homes in case there is a lot of ice and perhaps trees down that could limit road commission service and keep people in place for a couple of days.

“If you have to drive, just be aware that it’s going to be tricky even at the best moments,” Schirripa warned. “Reduce your speed, eliminate distractions, make sure you’re wearing your seat belt. If you see emergency vehicles, pull over lane, give them all the room they need and reduce your speed at least in half (while passing).

“Just because the sign says 70 (mph) doesn’t mean you can go 70 and just because you have four-wheel drive doesn’t mean you have four-wheel stop,” he added.

And for anyone who doesn’t absolutely have to go out, Schirripa said, “Just don’t do it. Just don’t drive.”

—News 8’s Luke Stier, Madeline Odle and Amanda Porter contributed to this report.