Jack Frost is nipping at the state’s funding

After a slew of winter weather, snow and ice aren’t the only things that have been piling up in Chapel Hill.

The Chapel Hill Public Works Department has used about $6,900 of its $11,000 annual budget for materials like brine, salt and sand needed to keep Chapel Hill’s roads safe during winter storms.

Before Friday’s ice storm, Public Works teams pre-treated steep hills, bridges, primary streets — including Chapel Hill Transit routes — drives and parking lots in the town.

As of Thursday, the teams also planned to apply brine to 15 secondary state-maintained streets considered important to bus routes and major road networks.

The state maintains five major roads in Chapel Hill, including Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Columbia Street and Franklin Street.

So far this year, Chapel Hill has used 14,000 gallons of brine, 50 tons of salt and about 25 tons of sand, said Richard Terrell, Public Works operations manager for the town.

Winter weather-related costs are piling up for the state, too.

As of mid-January, the N.C. Department of Transportation has used about 15.5 percent — or $7.76 million — of its annual winter weather services budget, said Amanda Perry, a department spokeswoman.

These figures have already exceeded last year’s totals.

In 2012, the department spent about $13.9 million on winter weather services — with about $196,600 of that spent in Orange County.

So far this year, about $213,046 has been spent on winter weather services in the county. That amount does not include last weekend’s storm.

Despite the increase in spending across the board, Terrell is confident Chapel Hill won’t exceed the town’s $11,000 budget.

But if that does happen, he said, Chapel Hill has additional funds set aside for unexpected severe weather conditions.

“We’re not overly concerned at this point,” he said.

Even with these precautions, last weekend’s inclement weather contributed to four wrecks in Chapel Hill, said Josh Mecimore, spokesman for the Chapel Hill Police Department.

The wrecks occurred during the day on Friday after the storm had begun, Mecimore said.

He said the slick roads contributed to all of the accidents. A fifth accident occurred on Saturday morning, but the road where it happened was categorized as “wet, not frozen.”

Mecimore urged drivers to use caution in bad weather conditions.

“In bad weather you should leave a longer distance between you and the vehicle in front of you,” he said.

Contact the desk editor at city@dailytarheel.com.