ADOT maintenance crews are used to dealing with snow, rain and high winds. But it’s rare to see Mother Nature strike as forcefully as she did last week when three separate storm systems kicked Arizona in the shins.
The storms – ranked by meteorologists as the most severe to hit the state in more than a decade – knocked out power, canceled flights, flooded roads and closed highways across the state. Governor Jan Brewer declared a state of emergency.
ADOT crews worked around the clock to keep highways open as much as possible, while closing and repairing those that posed a safety risk. The following stories offer a glimpse of the hard work and often-unsung jobs that ADOT employees do to keep people and goods moving safely and efficiently through Arizona, no matter what the weather brings.
PUNCHING IN, CLEANING UP
Tony Castillo, a highway operations supervisor based in Springerville, said the snowstorms that slammed eastern Arizona were the biggest he has seen in the past 10 years.
Snow began falling the evening of January 18 and peaked on January 21 and 22, accumulating up to eight feet of snow in some areas. Wind gusts caused snowdrifts as high as 10 feet, which led to the decision to close State Route 260 between McNary and State Route 273, the road to Sunrise Park Ski Resort.
Castillo and his crew of 12 snowplow operators worked six at a time in 12-hour shifts several days in a row to clear the roads, or as he called it “punching in and cleaning up.” The crews also used front-end loaders and ADOT’s 25-year-old snow blower, the only one in the agency’s inventory, to assist with the cleanup. Non-maintenance employees filled in where they could to keep things running smoothly.
NORTHERN EXPOSURE
In the Flagstaff District, snow, rain, ice, water and mud played havoc with the roads, while snowplow operators worked non-stop to turn back the mess caused by the elements.
With 27 years of road maintenance work under his belt, Mike Gutzwiller knows all about clearing roads in rough weather. “When it snows, we keep going,” he says in a matter-of-fact voice. He says he once worked 44 days straight to keep the roads clear during a brutal winter. He covers a lot of ground as a maintenance supervisor for the district’s Little Antelope Org and the Oak Creek Rim Camp.
He oversaw about a dozen snowplow operators last week, as they worked several days in a row to clean up state roads around the district.
A break in the weekend weather gave Gutzwiller a chance to give his crew a much-needed day off. Plow operators and support crew weren’t the only ones needing a break. The equipment used to battle the weather showed signs of wear and tear. Gutzwiller explained how some of the trucks had blown motors and broken welds on the plows from the near-constant use.
“I’ve got to praise them for the job they’ve done,” Gutzwiller said of his crew. “And nobody has been hurt, so that’s definitely a plus.”
MEDIA BLIZZARD
Winter almost always means snow in northern Arizona. And snow means that Rod Wigman, public information officer for the Flagstaff and Holbrook districts, will be busy providing information to the media about driving conditions on the interstates and state routes. The severity of last week’s storms and the ensuing media storm, made Wigman a highly sought-after spokesperson. He estimated that he gave 30 live interviews in a six-day span, including a couple of appearances on The Weather Channel. His messages appeared to have worked, at least in the Flagstaff area, where Wigman noticed a lot less traffic than usual. “It seemed like people stayed home,” he said.
STORM INFORM
The Traffic Operations Center and the Constituent Services area experienced a flood of a different sort. The TOC’s 5-1-1 systems (the az511.gov Web site and the 5-1-1 phone line) were deluged with users seeking the latest information on road conditions. The result was slow webpage views and reports of busy signals. During the height of the storms (January 20-22), the
5-1-1 system received a daily average count of over 23,000 calls. By comparison, in the first 17 days of January, the call volume averaged around 1,500 calls a day. Darrell Bingham with the TOC said they are working on solutions to handle a major influx of calls during a statewide emergency.
“Our internet and phone systems were overwhelmed during these storms and we are now looking at cost-effective ways to increase our systems’ capacities,” said Bingham. “We are aware that many callers got nothing more than a busy signal during the storms, and we’re working to add another server to our calling network to help in the future.”
Constituent Services Officer Ryan Harding fields customer questions and comments by phone and email. His phone rang off the hook last week, peaking on January 22 when he answered 200 phone calls. “People wanted to know which roads were open,” Harding said. Using social media tools like Twitter, Community Relations Director Tim Tait reached an estimated 430,000 people before, during and after and the storm, including public safety agencies and professional drivers, providing real-time updates and answering questions constantly throughout the weekend about closures and conditions. The Twitter audience gave ADOT field staff praise: “Your crews have done an excellent job on I-17! Clear and dry all the way to Flagstaff!” Tim also coordinated with ham radio enthusiasts across the state to provide information and relay observations to the Traffic Operations Center.
More storms are expected this winter, but if ADOT’s response to last week’s storms is any indication, travelers can rest easy knowing they are in experienced hands. “No matter what happens, we are going to keep after it,” Gutzwiller said. |
