GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – The severe weather locally has been particularly challenging for those tasked with keeping roads clear.
For those driving back to work and school on Friday, the roads should be serviceable, but not perfect.
Steve Grenier, Director of Public Works, says crews have been particularly busy this week and have faced a number of obstacles.
This past Monday, they spent all day clearing snow and then almost instantly were hit with the challenge of record low temps.
Grenier says their plan of attack had to be altered with such extreme conditions.
“If we would have gone out and brined ahead of time, that would have actually caused more snow to stick earlier in the storm,” he explains.
So instead crews were laying down sand to help vehicles attain more traction during this cold snap.
Another challenge was keeping massive vehicles up and running in extreme conditions.
“As much as the human body doesn’t like the cold temperatures, the equipment doesn’t like it either,” says Grenier.
Metal components to vehicles are particularly impacted by the cold and become more brittle in this weather
Thankfully, crews will be working in far more mild temperatures the next handful of days.
Grenier says they plan to take full advantage this weekend where temperatures could approach 40-degrees in Green Bay.
“We are going to be coming in with graters,” he says. “And graters that’s the only equipment we really have that can put down pressure.”
That means they’re able to reach bare pavement much more effectively than a standard plow blade.
For local crews, it’s a great opportunity to get next level work done before Mother Nature lashes back out again this winter.
“We are expecting additional precipitation during the middle of the week or so,” he says. “So we got to start getting ready for the next round that’s coming.”
And for those getting back into their normal morning commute on Friday, remember that it’s not perfect, but after all, it is winter in Wisconsin.
“Are they smooth and dry like [the] middle of July? Absolutely not,” says Grenier. “But it’s going to be the first of February.”
