(01/28/19) - The snow, wind and cold temperatures made for a long day for road crews and drivers.
"This type of snow and blowing, it's these secondary roads that will drift right up. So we're monitoring, our foreman are out checking road conditions," said Saginaw County Road Commission Managing Director Dennis Borchard.
Altogether the road commission is responsible for more than 1800 miles of roads, with more than 500 primary miles.
More than 40 plow trucks are loaded up with salt, but Borchard said it'll likely only be used on intersections and other areas as needed. The wind would simply blow it around.
And while the amount of snow we're getting is a challenge by itself, add in the extra weather elements and this late January storm will be one to remember. "We're going to get the snow, and a lot of it, close to 12 inches, the wind, and we have cold temperatures. And blowing snow and drifting, so it's very dangerous out there and it's going to get worse," Borchard said.
Day shift plow drivers with the SCRC came in at 7 a.m. Monday and will go home around 7 p.m. as they are only allowed to work 12 hours. A smaller overnight shift will be on until the day shift returns at 4 or 5 a.m. Tuesday.
In the meantime staying home can really help.
"Stay home if you don't have to go out in this. It'll give us more time to be able to get on these roads and do our job," Borchard added.
Not everyone is able to stay home.
Dakota Wright of Vassar had to work today, but ended up leaving early to deal with a power outage at home.
Getting home is half his battle today. "White knuckle, going slow doing 40 on the highway pretty much all the way," Wright said.
We caught up with him in Buena Vista Township. His journey began in Pinconning. "Took me probably an hour longer than it should of so, and visibility is probably less than a half mile, it's horrible," he said.
And while the SCRC reports secondary roads are experiencing drifting, Wright said I-75 wasn't much better in spots.
"A lot of drifting. The highway is pretty much one lane and there's four foot drifts in the fast lanes, so it's not good at all," Wright said.
David Dowdell of Saginaw said intersections are trouble spots too. "The snow helps some, on some of them because it covers it, but if it's bare on it then it's going to slide."
Dowdell expects the roads to get worse overnight as plow drivers get some sleep and the temperatures plummet.
"We've missed a lot of it so you know, like they say, what goes around comes around, and so we have to adjust and adapt to this," Dowdell said.