Crews pulled off highways Sunday
Staff writer
In an unprecedented move, nearly all highways in the area were closed Saturday because of unsafe conditions caused by ice and snow.
Kansas Department of Transportation area engineer Joe Palic, who oversees Marion, McPherson, Chase, and Morris counties, could not remember any time during his 36 years with KDOT that all highways had closed.
“This is one of the more severe storms we’ve had in 36 years,” Palic said.
Marion area crews began pre-treating roads with brine at 7 a.m. Saturday, before freezing rain began to fall, he said.
Then crews bladed snow off roads until about sunset Sunday, when crews stopped work because of poor visibility from blowing snow and a forecast that the wind would not drop below 30 mph until after midnight.
“We just didn’t think it was safe,” Palic said.
Blading roads when snow is blowing across the highway makes it hard to see and slows progress, he said.
Crews hit the roads again Monday morning, he said.
“We try to keep roads passable given the equipment we’ve got,” Palic said.
In Marion, KDOT has five trucks to work with. A lack of manpower “did not help” in isolated areas, Palic said.
Marion County Undersheriff Larry Starkey said the most comparable storm he remembers was an ice storm in 2007.
“Much of the county was without electricity for several days,” Starkey said.
Deputies responded to 14 stranded motorists Saturday and Sunday.
Two deputies were out at all times, he said, but some roads were impassable.
Lincolnville firefighters patrolled US-56/77, and deputies patrolled the area as they were able between calls, Starkey said.
Starkey and two deputies responded Monday morning to a stuck motorist in Marion whose car was stranded fully halfway into an as-yet-uncleared city street. They pushed the car back onto the motorist’s driveway.
Jared Armstrong, primary dispatcher for Auto House Towing, said his business had 44 calls in its region Saturday and Sunday.
Calls continued coming in Monday, and truck operators remained busy. Armstrong said he expected Auto House to remain busy until at least Tuesday evening.
“Most were slide-offs or semis that pulled off on the shoulder, then the shoulder froze up and they couldn’t get going,” Armstrong said. “We had a lot of trucks stuck at the cloverleaf at US-56 in McPherson.”
At one point, Auto House declined to accept calls because it had so many customers already waiting, Armstrong said. Employees worked until about midnight, when it got too dark. They then went home to sleep.
Armstrong said Auto House used to have access to police scanners until scanners were encrypted. Having access helped so two operators ould plan better.
“Our biggest challenge is, we can only travel about as well as other vehicles,” Armstrong said.
Ice is a big struggle for tow drivers, just as it is for motorists.
“A little patience goes a long way.,” Armstrong said. We’re always all hands on deck, but it takes about a week to recover.’”
KDOT public information officer Ashley Perez said no KDOT employee remember ed closing all roads in the past.
Although KDOT announced roads were closed, no barricades were placed.
“Barricades were not used by KDOT as we do not have the manpower to set up barricades during the storm,” Perez said. “They get in the way of KDOT operations and emergency responders, and they can blow over, causing safety concerns.”
Perez said she thought closing roads made it better for both motorists and first responders.
“The closure helps keep motorists off the road and helps increase safety for first responders and emergency vehicles, so they have space to get where they are going,” Perez said.