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CUSICK - While some of us may not be ready to anticipate winter driving conditions in the Pend Oreille River Valley, that doesn’t make it any less of a reality as the weather turns colder. With the inevitable in mind, the Pend Oreille County Public Works Department held a public meeting Wednesday, Oct. 2 to discuss the county’s winter maintenance policy, which is used to prioritize removal of snow and ice on county roads.
While crews will do their best to keep county roads passable throughout the winter season, it is not a one-size-fits-all policy according to Pend Oreille County Public Works Director Craig Jackson.
“When there’s snow and ice out, our crews plow approximately 57 miles of roads per day,” Jackson said. “That may not seem like a lot, but when you think about it we only have so many drivers and so many trucks and there’s 480 miles of maintained county roads that we’re responsible for. We have to put those routes that have more people living on them and moving on them at the top of the list.”
Roads with higher volumes of traffic, especially ones that school buses travel on, are usually prioritized. Sometimes, to ensure access to a higher priority road it might be necessary to partially complete a lower priority road, according to the policy. Snow and ice removal criteria is as follows: Priority 1: Roads with a functional classification of major collector and school bus routes.
Priority 2: Roads with a functional classification of minor collector.
Priority 3: All other roads normally given snow and ice control.
“Emergencies such as power outages, ambulance calls, fires, etc. may take precedence over all other established maintenance routines,” the policy reads.
Following an overnight winter storm during the week, winter maintenance activities will begin generally at 6 a.m. Maintenance for roads deemed minor collectors will be done after completion of maintenance on major collectors and bus routes. Road crews work a single, 8–10-hour shift Monday through Friday. After hours, weekends and holidays are on an as needed callout basis for evening or weekend storms.
“We have to give our guys some time off,” Jackson said. “We don’t have the staff to run 24/7.”
Jackson added that the goal of the policy does not guarantee dry, bare roads during winter, but instead focuses on, “Maintaining adequate traction for vehicles properly equipped for winter driving conditions.”
“We ask people to please be patient and be ready for winter,” Jackson said. “Have good tires, plan on leaving earlier so you can drive safely and get where you need to go on time.”
Also, anyone removing their own snow from their driveway are asked to remember that Washington State law prohibits placing snow or ice on any public road or sidewalk in a manner that impedes vehicle or pedestrian traffic or makes it unsafe. Vehicles that are found parked in county a rights-of-way during snowplow operations may be blocked in by the snow berm, and it’s the responsibility of the vehicle driver to shovel the vehicle out. If the vehicle in question creates a traffic hazard law enforcement will be notified to tow it away.
“Our biggest problem is just the topography of the county,” Roy Anderson, District 1 Foreman, said. “It could be raining at my house but on top of Camden (Road) there could be four to eight inches of snow.
For more information about the public works department and road maintenance, go to www.pendoreille.gov/ public-works.
