It’s been a pretty interesting winter, with lots of snow, lots of wind and below average temperatures over the past month.

 

But the Sherburne County road maintenance crew is doing its best to keep up with the weather conditions.

 

“We had a pretty easy winter up to February,” says Sherburne County Public Works Maintenance Supt. Marlin Marquette. “We had a few early snows, but nothing appreciable. It was a non-winter until February.”

 

The first real event was the ice storm that hit Central Minnesota on Sun., Feb. 3. The county had all 15 plows working that evening until the next afternoon, spreading salt to keep the roads open and safe.

 

“Ice storms are the worst. They use up a tremendous amount of material in a short period of time,” says Marquette. “And it’s been busy ever since.”

County crews have been out frequently, plowing snow, salting and snow blowing when possible.

 

“It seems like it’s been snowing every two or three days. We had one day where it didn’t snow at all, but it was so windy all the roads were blowing shut,” says Marquette. 

 

“We had basically the entire crew out on a Sunday just trying to keep the roads open. Everybody came in at 6 a.m. and we kept the majority out there until 6 p.m. We had four trucks out until 10 p.m.”

 

Not every snowfall requires plowing. Marquette says sometimes light snow just blows across the road, especially the drier, colder snow.

“There really isn’t a set-in-stone policy,” he says.             

 

“It’s whenever we think we can make some meaningful gains and  accomplishments. If we get some wet and heavy snow and it’s very slick and icy, we’ll go out right away. If we don’t get it cleaned off the road before the temperatures go down, that’s when it builds up. It’s a race against the thermometer sometimes.”

 

So far, the plows have been winning that race. But with the amount of snow that has fallen in February, the county is running out of space to plow it. It’s the snowiest February on record, and another six-plus inches fell March 1.

 

“We went from having no snow to it being piled everywhere. We’ve been out hauling snow for about a week now,” says Marquette. “We have to prioritize where we do our snow removal because we can’t be every place at once. The most important thing is visibility at intersections.”

 

Trucks haul it to a site in Big Lake or just east of the county’s maintenance facility in Becker. City crews have also been doing some hauling. But winter isn’t over yet, and crews will likely be hauling snow for a few more weeks.

 

“It all depends on the weather. The one thing that’s helping us now is the days are getting longer. The sun is higher in the sky,” says Marquette. “Even on a cold day when the sun is out you can see the snow is melting.”

 

Marquette says his crew has been very good about being available on short notice. That first ice storm - Feb. 3 was Super Bowl Sunday.

 

“Our entire crew came in and went o work eight o’clock that night and worked until 3:30 the next afternoon,” he says.         

   

“They’ve all been super good about making themselves available, coming in and cancelling and changing personal plans. Sure, it’s part of the job, but they have personal lives just like everybody else.”

 

Everybody else can also help out by doing their part.

 

“People shouldn’t push snow across the road or pile up snow in the right of way. Clean out around their mailboxes and keep their garbage cans back as far off the road as they can, and when they’re empty, take them back in their yard,” says Marquette.

 

“And practice proper winter driving. Clean the snow off your vehicle, turn your lights on, allow extra time and drive according to the weather conditions,” says Marquette. “It would solve so many issues if people would just slow down.”