DATELINE 3/17/2021 Nice blog here from the National Academies about using resources for winter operations. https://www.nationalacademies.org/trb/blog/preparing-for-winter-weather-with-transportation-resources
3/16/2021 Nice Video here about CalTrans winter operations! Enjoy! https://aashtojournal.org/2021/03/05/caltrans-winter-operations-profiled-in-aashto-video-series/
3/11/2021 Robots that go on sidewalks may not seem like a winter maintenance issue, but when many sidewalks are maintained by property owners then the issue of what constitutes an “open” sidewalk for those robots is a potentially interesting issue. Good luck with that one!! https://www.axios.com/sidewalk-robots-legal-rights-pedestrians-821614dd-c7ed-4356-ac95-ac4a9e3c7b45.html
3/10/2021 And a third case of snowplows being named, this time in Colorado. I will confess that I did not know that the “Unsinkable Molly Brown” was a Coloradan, but I do now!! https://denver.cbslocal.com/…/unsinkable-molly-colorado-na…/
DATELINE 3/9/2021 More snowplow naming results – this time from South Dakota!! https://dot.sd.gov/blog/1325/sddot-snowplows-named
3/8/2021 All those name a snowplow competitions are coming to fruition. Here are some results from Minnesota DOT https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2021/03/02/mndot-announces-name-a-snowplow-contest-winners
3/5/2021 We tend to focus on roads in our winter maintenance efforts, and rightly so, but there are concerns about bike paths and pedestrian ways. This article discusses how Mass DOT is making some funding available for projects to address these other transportation modalities. https://aashtojournal.org/…/massdot-issues-shared-winter-s…/
3/4/2021 When bad storms hit, their impact may go way beyond our own neighborhoods, but of course, we tend to focus close to home. This AASHTO report captures just how widespread some of the winter woes were in Mid-February!!! https://aashtojournal.org/…/state-dots-battling-series-of-…/
3/3/2021 When a winter storm hits the Southern States as happened in February, the goals become much simpler than may be true for States where winter weather is usual. The key goal is safety, and in that regard, Louisiana did pretty well, avoiding any fatalities. Well done indeed. https://www.thenewsstar.com/…/louisiana-transpo…/4555519001/
3/2/2021 Of course, winter weather impacts all modes of travel, and in the sense of sharing the pain it is good to know that the railroads have their winter troubles too. This may ultimately have road impacts also, since stuff that would otherwise have gone by rail may need to go by road now – it is a delicate balance for freight between road and rail… https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freight-railroads-curtail-operations-as-extreme-winter-weather-blast…
2/26/2021 It is a perennial problem for agencies to keep good employees and recruit good new employees, as MoDOT reports here… https://www.radio.com/kmox/news/local/modot-battles-snow-short-handed-needs-truck-drivers
2/25/2021 You know the winter storm must have been real when the New York Times reports on it, and it didn’t even all happen in New York City… https://www.nytimes.com/…/winter-road-conditions-travel.html
2/24/2021 The storms hit Texas really badly, and were apparently the worst winter storms they have had there since the late 1940’s. No agency likes to have to close a road, but sometimes you must. This article reports on the decision making process. https://news4sanantonio.com/…/inside-txdots-decision-to-shu…
2/23/2021 Ohio DOT (and many other agencies) have been very busy dealing with the storms. Our sincere thanks to all those folks who have been out there plowing in truly severe weather. https://fox8.com/…/live-odot-working-around-the-clock-duri…/
2/22/2021 The winter storms that have swept across the country in mid-February have, inevitably, created a host of challenges. Here is some information on how the storms have impacted the Oklahoma turnpike. https://www.newson6.com/…/oklahoma-turnpike-authority-says-…
FRESH SNOW: DATELINE 2/19/2021 Special fresh snow – you only have until February 26th to vote in Minnesota DOT’s name a snow plow competition – some awesome names in there – go vote!! https://www.postbulletin.com/…/6893342-Voting-begins-in…
DATELINE 2/18/2021 The video here shows a pick-up truck flying off an overpass as a result of hitting some snow on the overpass. Please drive carefully. https://www.nbcdfw.com/…/driver-survives-70-foot-…/2546444/…
