AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) on Thursday unveiled new equipment for road clearing ahead of this year’s winter weather season.

TxDOT says they’re ready for potential severe winter weather.

This year, they added three snow plows that could be used in Central Texas for the first time, an item discussed following Winter Storm Uri in 2021. The plows are refurbished ones from Amarillo, which were aging out of that district’s fleet.

“We are at a place in Austin, where we don’t get a lot of frequency of snow. So we had to weigh the decision to invest in plows, and is it worth the cost for one of two storms a year?” said Tucker Ferguson with TxDOT.

Last November, TxDOT revealed the Austin District added more salt brine and magnesium chloride stock, as well as equipment, following the problems of the February 2021 freeze.

After the winter storm, a major disaster declaration was issued for 77 of the state’s 254 counties. The disaster declaration included many Central Texas counties: Bastrop, Blanco, Caldwell, Gillespie, Hays, Travis and Williamson.