By Kelsey Watts, KTVZ.COM

The Oregon Department of Transportation is gearing up for the busy winter season, as crews head out to sand, plow and de-ice the most dangerous stretches of roadway.

This weekend's storm really got crews moving.

As snow and ice moved in, every possible ODOT truck moved out. Even one that was in repair was put back together to hit the streets, and people working in other ODOT departments were even called in to help drive the plows.

"We had virtually every truck, we called people in who don't ordinarily drive those trucks, to get out on the road and do the work that we could do, knowing we had a situation in which drivers were at risk," said ODOT spokesman Peter Murphy.

One of the most dangerous spots is Highway 97 at Lava Butte, south of Bend. There, drivers worked a circuit, heading south to La Pine, then back up north to Lava Butte, only to turn around and do it again.

Some crew members were called off the route for a while Sunday, to respond to two semi trucks that jackknifed at Vandevert Road, but were soon back on the scheduled route.

"We were out there with as much force as we could put out - we couldn't put any more trucks on the road - we don't have them," Murphy explained.

Cinders are stockpiled all summer long, and now large piles of it are ready to go in ODOT's maintenance yard.  De-icer, meanwhile, gets trucked in to the yard, as it's needed, to fill up two large holding tanks.

But the challenges ODOT faces spread far beyond the winter storms. In an effort to reduce operating costs, staff are taking days off here and there, on furlough.

"What that means is it's hard to get a hold of people," Murphy said. "They're not standing by their cell phones, waiting for the phone call, so it takes more time to bring all those resources together."

However, furloughed workers are still called in to help, when winter weather demands it.

Another consideration is the budget. Winter maintenance is set at $3 million but last year, it took $2.9 million to get the job done.

"Bottom line, though is, highway safety is our job, so it doesn't matter if it takes $3.5 (million) or even $4 (million) or whatever, because that's what we're going to do, and everything else is secondary to that," Murphy said.

So if ODOT does go over budget this year, due to winter storms, they'll cut back on summer projects to help make up the difference.