Mild fall, winter resulting in easier workload for local road, street crews
There’s more money spent and more work for local street and road crews when there’s snow and ice to remove, but that hasn’t been the case so far through much of southern Colorado.
Many areas have received little more than a light dusting or a few inches of snow.
Crew supervisors say their departments are saving money by using less salt and sand, paying less overtime and avoiding wear and tear on equipment.
“The lack of snow and ice has allowed us to do drainage work, put up signs, seal cracks in roads and repair dirt roads,” says Troy Wiitala, highway manager for El Paso County. “Grading dirt roads is tough because they’re hard and dry. We get a lot of complaints about dust.”
Brad Bauer, a supervisor with the Colorado Department of Transportation, says his crews are conducting similar duties.
“We’re saving money that will ultimately get spent,” he says, “if not on snow removal, then on the roads somehow.”
CDOT will switch to using salt brine, instead of other materials, on many roads when snow and ice fall; the county plans to do the same next year.
“We can make it ourselves, it’s half as expensive as magnesium chloride, it’s just as effective and it’s not as harmful to the environment,” Bauer says.
Some businesses, such as private snow removal companies, depend on snow, and when there’s less of it, they make less money.
“I’ve been in the business for 40 years,” says Terry McIntire of T&S Enterprises in Colorado Springs. “This is one of driest stretches I’ve seen. But I keep doing it because customers depend on me. I’ve been watching the jet stream take everything north of us. Come on, bend a little and give us some moisture!”
Some citizens expressed mixed feelings about the unseasonably mild weather.
“It bugs me. I love shoveling, I love snow, says Peni Cabanting. “I don’t necessarily want to play in it, but I love looking at it from out of my window.”
Daniel Easton says he wouldn’t mind snow and ice if drivers would slow down.
“I own my own business making furniture, so the warm weather is actually playing into my favor right now,” he says. “When it gets too cold, thinner wood can crack.”
