Road crews in Wash. Co. gear up for possible long night Tuesday

Posted on: 5:11 pm, January 14, 2014, by A.J. Bayatpour, updated on: 08:28pm, January 14, 2014

WASHINGTON COUNTY (WITI) From Port Washington to Washington County, crews on Tuesday, January 14th were paying close attention to the roads as snow was expected. We saw morning snowfall and an afternoon lull. Winds picked up late in the afternoon and snow was expected to pick back up Tuesday evening and Tuesday night. Crews who work to keep the roads clear were worried Tuesday about the potential for blowing and driving snow especially along rural roads.

For much of Tuesday afternoon, areas like West Bend saw freezing rain but with the potential for snow and high winds, highway crews were hopeful they could get some help from snow fences.

One such snow fence was placed outside West Bend East High School.

A lot of our students live in rural areas around, and so, it seems to be the drifts happen much more out in those areas, obviously. Those are things we have to consider when planning events and whether we`re going to hold them, Principal Jim Curler said.

The stretch of Highway G that runs past the school is a small part of Washington Countys plowing plan.

We`ve got 186 highway miles that we cover and it is tough. It takes anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours for the course of an entire route for a driver so by the time they get back, there`s some problem areas that we have to keep track of, Assistant Highway Commissioner Chris Walter said.

Of course, blowing and drifting snow can quickly cover roads that crews just plowed and thats where snow fences come in.

A lot of these sections our guys work, they know where the drifts are. They`ve been plowing them for a number of years and that`s where we try to put snow fences in those areas to protect against drifting, Walter said.

Curler says the fences have gone up at the high school every winter in the 15 years hes been at West Bend East.

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Road crews in Wash. Co. gear up for possible long night Tuesday