Plows hit the streets as the snow flies

With Old Man Winter finally showing himself on Monday, 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 plows 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 plows are late to clear the roads, however, it’s only a matter of time until calls flood in, inquiring about where they are and why they haven’t been by yet.

Getting "snowed in" is a common nuisance in North Idaho, but very little can be done about it, except maybe curse a little while you clear away snow. If your particular street hasn’t been plowed at all, there also isn’t much that can be done while you wait.

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

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 white stuff.

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

The Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office states 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.”

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 Officer Megan Jahns explained 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 composed of three snow plows and a de-icer truck based out of an ITD hub situated near the east entrance to Fourth of July Pass. These vehicles and their operators are responsible for clearing and deicing I-90 from Wolf Lodge to Cataldo.

The next group is also composed of three snow plows and a de-icer truck, 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 such as equipment failures, and extreme weather patterns, snow can pile up and make the interstate tough to navigate.

Jahns 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 is not illegal to pass them, but Jahns stresses that drivers should only pass them on the left.

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

“Priority roads are No. 1, which are the school bus routes,” Cason 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 take requests to plow certain areas 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.