Photo: Fox 21 News

By Natalie Noury from Fox 21 News - December 4, 2021

In Two Harbors, the Lake County Highway Department has their plows ready to go as they await the first measurable snowfall this winter season.

Preparations began months ago, but the snow hasn’t been as consistent this year making it hard to make an official plan but its given trainees an opportunity to see how it’s done.

“The snows that we’ve had have been pretty small so it’s not the end of the world we’ve got some new people it helps them get trained up a little bit,” Neil Udenberg, Highway Superintendent for Lake County.

With the first snowfall on the horizon, now is as good a time as any to assign clearing routes and make sure equipment is in shape to hit the pavement.

“Yeah we’ll be scrambling to make sure we keep the roads cleared. Our main goal is to work on black top first to make it safer for everybody. We’ll hit the gravel when all the main roads are safe enough to where we can leave them and hit all the side roads,” Scott Anseth, Plow Truck Driver, said.

But there’s one thing crews are still waiting for before the flakes start to fall.

“We’re hoping for some cold here before the snow actually hits to tighten up the gravel a little bit again. It’s pretty important to get those things in place if you can but Mother Nature’s going to give us what we get,” Udenberg said.

And that might be what comes next as temperatures are set to plummet next week and that’s actually a good sign for those who work to keep the roads clear.

“We’ll that’s where it kind of changed how we approach things if we know there’s a real cold snap coming after, we try and get on top of that snow and salt it up as quick as possible to try and burn it off cause once you get the hard pack of the temperatures fall enough that gets really hard and it gets much more difficult and expensive to get that off the road,” Udenberg said.

But with a new winter season upon us crews like to remind those driving to be safe and be aware of blind spots too.

“Basically keep your distance, our plows, there are many blind spots that we can’t see. There have been times where people have passed in our passenger side and that’s our biggest blind spot,” Anseth said.

Also if a vehicle happens to slide off the road, crews say it’s best to remain in your car and call for help. The plows tend to drive by and stop at every off-road vehicle to check in too.

To see the original report and read related stories, follow this link to the Fox 21 News website. https://www.fox21online.com/2021/12/03/departments-of-transportation-gearing-up-for-first-measurable...