Snow way around it

With Old Man Winter hitting the Silver Valley hard since the New Year, local snow plows have been out in force attempting to keep up with the massive workload.

As with every year, road crews with any agency struggle with the classic “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” issue when it comes to keeping residents happy.

If everything goes right and drivers hit the road on time, many residents can be upset that their local plow snowed them into their driveway or buried their roadside car.

If there’s a problem and drivers are late to clear the roads though — or just haven’t gotten to a certain area — it’s only a matter of time until calls come in inquiring about where they are and why they haven’t been by yet.

Getting “snowed in” is a common nuisance where we live that nothing can really be done about, except maybe curse a little while you clear away snow. If your street hasn’t been plowed at all, there also isn’t much that can be done.

Many in the not-so-distant past have even threatened legal action to punish agencies for both instances. These threats are mostly empty, though.

Laws and statutes regarding snow removal in Idaho are mostly dictated on the local level. In the Silver Valley, snow removal is mostly handled by four entities — the Idaho Transportation Department primarily for Interstate 90, the Shoshone County Public Works Department for county and some city roads, the various city road departments for their roads, and contractors for businesses and private residences.

Because of this delegation of responsibilities, local agencies are free to designate who is and who is not responsible for removing the cumbersome stuff.

On the local level here in the Silver Valley, the laws and procedures don’t give much help to residents either when it comes to getting snowy revenge for being blocked in.

Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Jeremy Groves explained in a previous interview that although the rules differ from city to city and even county residences, “road crews have the right to plow and remove snow from roadways. During this process to clear roadways, everyone ends up with roll off in front of driveways or along parked vehicles which falls on the vehicle or homeowner to remove.”

The Kellogg Police Department cleared the issue up even more with a recent post on its Facebook page explaining that throwing and pushing snow back into the roadway after it has been moved by a plow is a misdemeanor crime.

KPD is also on the lookout for “dead heads,” or cars that have been buried in snow by plows because they were left on the street. These vehicles are tagged for removal when seen.

As for the situation where a plow hasn’t blocked you in because it hasn’t come by at all, there still isn’t much to do except be patient and stay off the roads.

Even if work crews spring into action as soon as the snow flies, they can only do what they can with what they have.

ITD Public Information Specialist Megan Sausser explains that as far as Interstate 90 goes, the stretch from Fourth of July Pass to Lookout Pass is managed by three separate groups.

The first group is comprised of three snowplows based out of an IDT hub situated near the east entrance to Fourth of July Pass. These three plows are responsible for clearing and deicing I-90 from Wolf Lodge to Cataldo.

The next group is also comprised of three snowplows, but are based in Mullan. These plows have the tough task of clearing and deicing I-90 from Wallace to Lookout Pass.

The final group is based in Osburn and only has two plows that cover the entire stretch from Cataldo to Wallace.

When you combine a limited number of plows, unforeseen circumstances — like equipment failures — and extreme weather patterns, snow can pile up and make the interstate tough to navigate.

Sausser explains that clearing I-90 is ITD’s No. 1 priority in the Silver Valley area when the winter weather comes in, but if conditions do get hazardous, drivers are encouraged to be cautious and wait for the plows to clear the way.

If you find yourself stuck behind a plow, it isn’t illegal to pass them, but Sausser stresses that drivers should only do so if you pass them on the left.

On the county level, Shoshone County Public Works Director Jim Cason explains that when it comes to plowing the roads, his crews have a priority list to follow.

“Priority roads are No. 1, which are the bus routes,” he said. “Then we take care of the main arterial routes of the main roads of Silver Valley (road). After that, we hit the subdivisions of all the outer lying parts of the county.”

County crews will take requests to plow when someone calls in, but will only fulfill them after the priority roads have been done.

Split into different districts, county crews cover roughly 400 miles of road from Murray to Avery and Cataldo to Mullan in one way or another.

When it comes to each Silver Valley city, most have their own road crews that have their own planned routes. Each city has its own priority roads that are determined based on similar criteria the county uses.

If you have a question regarding snow removal in your area, contact your local roads department or city hall.