Drivers struggle with icy morning commute

Southern Colorado drivers dealt with a snowy, slick commute Thursday morning.

Our weather team was tracking icy on-ramps and off-ramps in Monument. There was slush winding up Highway 24 and a slippery drive in Woodland Park.

“It was so icy, it was hard to be outside,” said Maureen Combs.

In Colorado Springs, it was just as bad. There were solid sheets of ice on side streets.

“If you’re going too fast, you’re just going with the ice,” Combs said.

So we asked the city and county: at what point do crews start treating the roads?

“If we’re unsure of an amount, we’ll send our snow foreman and they’ll inspect the areas first,” said Tim Stickel, El Paso County Highway Superintendent.

The city had 16 plows out Wednesday night and the county had 30. That is more than two-thirds of their staff.

“Some of the trucks break down,” Stickel said. “On average we will have between two and four plows that won’t be able to go out because of mechanical issues.”

Stickel said certain areas in town may have been missed because of what’s called “flash freeze”.

“If we get a flash freeze right before sunrise, it can cause some slick conditions,” Stickel said. “Even though we’ve treated it and plowed it.”

On average, the county deploys 38 trucks per snow storm.