Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler responded to complaints received during the weekend’s snow storms.
He explained to the Starke County Commissioners Monday night that it was the first major snow event in the last two years. Five drivers were new to the experience of more than a couple of inches of snowfall so timing and other matters were an issue. Ritzler said those are being remedied.
Ritzler said every time there is a major snow event, many complaints are filed. He said people always ask why the county cannot clear the roads like the Indiana Department of Transportation.
Ritzler replied, “They can afford to run crews 24 hours a day. We cannot afford to do that. Our full crew can just barely get all of the roads done in one shift. They can afford to use brine and pure salt on a level we cannot. INDOT has spent more money on the Starke county state roads than we have budgeted for an entire year.”
He added that there are higher traffic volumes on state roads and most of their roads are easier to plow as they are hot mix asphalt.
Another complaint is that the plow drivers block driveways with plowed snow from the county roads. Ritzler said there is simply no time to plow out the 10,000 driveways in the county, even if 500 driveways were divided up per driver.
“If they took one minute on each driveway, which would probably take more for deceleration and acceleration and do the driveway, that would add almost eight hours to their plow routes. That would mean their plow route would be 14 hours to do. We just can’t do that.”
Ritzler said residents complain that the snow plow damages mailboxes. He commented that the plow does not hit the mailboxes, it is the force of the snow coming off the plow blades that causes the damage.
“Snow comes off the plow at three times the speed that the plow is going. So, if the plow is going the acceptable 25 mph, snow coming off the plow is going 75 mph. That’s what knocks these mailboxes over. We follow mailbox policy for replacement. If your mailbox is within five feet of the road, we do not replace it in most cases because it is too close to the roadway. It has to be at least five off the roadway for us to do that. We have to be able to plow the roads.”
They will also clear intersections the day after the roads are cleared and they do not clear state road intersections. If a complaint comes in that a driver is going too fast, Ritzler said the GPS on the plow truck can be reviewed for further discussion with the driver. Ritzler has found that the driver is typically going the correct speed.
The highway department utilizes a prioritized route to clear roads. Ritzler said they are prioritized by traffic volume with gravel roads plowed last.
He also said drivers attempt to get the right amount of salt/sand mixture on the roads, but many times residents complain it is too much or not enough.
