Winter road challenge
Blowing snow, drifts create difficult conditions for county road crews
By Larry Meyer
Argus Observer
Friday, February 1, 2008 1:03 PM PST
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| A truck slowly makes its way through the snow which has left drifts on Alameda Drive, south of Ontario, and then packed down by vehicles, Thursday. |
ONTARIO — County and road maintenance district crews struggled Thursday to keep roads open as winds produced large drifts that set the stage for dangerous driving conditions, and motorists are urged to be patient and drive slow.
“We’ve haven’t seen this kind of snow since 1987,” Ontario Road District Supervisor Jeff Wise said.
The district, which maintains county roads around Ontario, has four employees, and Wise was one of three driving a snowplow Thursday, as one person was out sick. With one storm coming in behind another battling the snow has evolved into a real challenge, Wise said.
“There doesn’t seem to be any end in sight,” he said.
The snow storms are also impacting the county’s budget.
“It’s a big impact (on the budget),” Wise said, noting it’s primarily because of the cost of fuel. “It’s already three times what we’re used to. Fortunately, we purchased sand ahead three to four years.”
Budgets adjustments will need to be made during the summer, Wise said, adding that one of the things which might be cut is seal coating.
“We just hope the money comes through from the state,” Malheur County Judge Dan Joyce said Thursday.
The county is slated to get about $600,000 this fall from a special appropriation from the Oregon Legislature to assist Oregon counties that in the past received funds from federal timber receipts. Wise expressed the same sentiments.
However, there is a chance the program could be changed.
If the timber counties receive their money from the federal government, that would halt the state funding.
Ontario School District buses were no more than 10 to 15 minutes late getting to their destinations, but there was one minor mishap.
“We had one bus get stuck,” Duke Clinton, school district director of operations, said. “It was on the Pioneer route.”
A bus met a car on Canyon 2 Road, and slid off the road as the bus driver attempted to let the other vehicle get by, Clinton said. A truck from the school was used to pull the bus out. For the most part, the winds were a help on the Pioneer route as the gusts blew the snow off the road, Clinton said. Wise’s message to the public is to take it slow and be patient. While most of the roads in the Ontario area can be cleared in 10 to 12 hours, it may take an extra day to get to all of the roads.
Shelly Dennis, secretary of the Malheur County Road Department, which covers the Vale area and other areas not included in a road district, said the county crews were mainly clearing out snow drifts, as the west end of valley had received less snow.
Parts of Interstate 84 were closed Thursday afternoon because of blowing snow in the Ladd Canyon Area and between La Grande and Pendleton. At one point the Ladd Canyon closure was extended all the way to Ontario.
