State stepping up use of snow fences

By Holly Zachariah

The Columbus Dispatch Saturday December 29, 2012 6:00 AM

MARYSVILLE, Ohio As bad as the snow has been in Union County this week, one notoriously wicked stretch of highway fared better than usual.

The drifts along Rt. 31, a primarily north/south highway that runs north out of Marysville, were reduced by the installation this year of several miles of snow fencing which probably will be appreciated again today because more snow was expected to fall.

The Ohio Department of Transportation ramped up its snow-fence program this year, installing 73 percent more than last winter. In ODOTs District 6, which includes Delaware, Fayette, Franklin, Madison, Marion, Morrow, Pickaway and Union counties, Union County was the big winner. Its almost 10 miles of fencing is more than any other area countys.

The temporary fencing, installed for several miles alongRt. 31 less than 100 feet from the western edge of the highway, couldnt stop everything. But it sure didnt hurt, said Dan Simpson, a resident of the Northeast Side of Columbus who had spent Christmas with relatives in Toledo and returned home on Rt. 31 in the middle of Wednesdays snowstorm.

Simpson stopped for gas at the edge of Marysville and said the areas lined with fencing seemed clearer and more passable.

Hard to tell in snow like this, he said as took a minute to scrape ice and snow from his windshield and side mirrors. But I drive enough to know anything that stops even a little bit of snow cant hurt.

Wednesdays storm, which dumped several inches of snow across central Ohio and nearly8 inches on Union County, was the fences first test of the season. Forecasters expect as much as4 inches more by this afternoon.

State workers also installed fencing this year in Delaware County along several miles of Rt. 42 north of Delaware and near the interchange of Rts. 36/37 and I-71. Marion County also saw a big increase this year.

Continue reading here:
State stepping up use of snow fences