The Washtenaw County Road Commission is responsible for winter maintenance on all
county roads and State Trunklines. Winter maintenance activities include applying salt and sand, as well as plowing snow on roadways and shoulders.
During a typical year, the Road Commission will respond to
approximately 50 winter maintenance callouts, and will use about
15,000 to 25,000 tons of salt, and 5,000 to 10,000 tons of sand.
(For example, in 2006/2007, the Road Commission responded for
winter maintenance on 48 occasions, used 16,387 tons of salt, and
5,500 tons of sand.)
The Road Commission can easily spend up to $2 million
annually for winter maintenance, depending upon inclement weather
conditions and the duration of the winter months. In
addition, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT)
contracts with the Road Commission to provide winter maintenance
services on the State Trunklines within the boundaries of
Washtenaw County, which includes: I-94,
US-23,
US-12 (Michigan Avenue),
M-14, M-52,
M-17 (Washtenaw Avenue),
M-153 (Ford Road connected to
M-14), Ecorse Road, and the
Willow Run bypass. The
costs for winter maintenance of the State Trunklines is entirely
paid for by MDOT and can be as high as $500,000 per season,
of the $2 million total budget.
The Road Commission performs its winter maintenance in accordance with
the Winter Maintenance Guidelines approved annually by the Board of
County Road Commissioners, with the highest priority being given to State Trunklines and high
traffic volume roads.
In order to plan winter maintenance for all public roads within Washtenaw County,
on November 6, 2007, the Board of County Road Commissioners adopted
the following Winter Maintenance Guidelines for the
2007/2008 winter season:
Winter maintenance operations will be conducted based on a
priority system established on the Washtenaw County and State Trunkline roads. The priorities primarily have been established
based on traffic volumes.
- Priority 1 - State Trunklines
- Priority 2 - High volume hard
surface roads
- Priority 3 - Medium volume hard
surface roads
- Priority 4 - Subdivision streets
- Priority 5 - Gravel roads
The scheduling of overtime
depends on a variety of factors including, road conditions,
weather forecasts, nature of the storm, time of storm, etc. The
following general guidelines will prevail:
-
Priority 1, 2 and 3 Routes - Overtime may only be authorized by the Superintendent
of Maintenance or his designee, as necessary.
-
Priority 4 and 5 Routes - Overtime may only be
authorized by the Managing Director or his designee after a
three (3) inch accumulation of snow, an ice storm, or blowing
and drifting snow, which interferes with the flow of vehicular
traffic.
- Shop - Overtime may be authorized by the Director of
Operations as necessary to keep equipment in good working
condition.
The Road Commission will monitor the Internet weather
sites and
local radio broadcasts for daily and emergency weather reporting
conditions. A meeting shall be held with the Sheriff’s Department,
State Police, and Emergency Management to explain and answer
questions about these guidelines.
The hiring of outside contractors may be authorized by the
Managing Director or his designee, based upon the following:
- Forecasted storm conditions.
- The condition of the road system at the time of decision.
- The status of crews and equipment at the time of decision.
-
The Operations Division shall:
- Develop a ready list of contractors to be called in the event they are required.
- Develop and maintain maps and routes so contractor assignments may be properly made
and the work inspected.
Crews normally assigned to State Trunklines may be used
on County Local and Primary Roads after State Trunklines have been
cleared countywide.
Night Patrol will begin on
November 25, 2007 and continue through approximately March 20,
2008. Night Patrol consists of a four-person crew that
is on duty from 8:00 p.m. until 4:30 a.m., five days a week,
and responds to ice and snow conditions on State Trunklines. This
crew is funded in total by MDOT. In isolated cases, this crew can perform
winter maintenance on County roads, at the Road Commission’s
expense.
If another storm starts before clean-up on Priority Routes 4
and 5 have been completed, crews will return to Priority
Routes 1, 2 and 3.
Your truck knocked
down my mailbox! When are you going to fix it?
