Snowdrift closes Quincy-area road, strands drivers
Not paying attention to road conditions such as ice and snowdrifts can lead to significant snarls in traffic like the one shown above from earlier this month when dozens of cars piled up on I-90. More recently, hazardous roads near Quincy stranded several drivers whose cars got stuck in drifts.
COURTESY PHOTO/GCSO
The map from Grant County Public Works shows roads throughout the county, and where each is placed in priority for snow plowing.
QUINCY — Snowdrifts closed sections of Road 8 NW and Road 9 NW and temporarily stranded some drivers late Wednesday night. No one was stranded overnight, although some vehicles were stuck in the snowdrift until morning.
The Grant County Sheriff’s Office issued a travel advisory at about 11:47 p.m., asking drivers to avoid the two roads between Road M.7 NW and Adams Road North. Grant County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Kyle Foreman wrote in a release that multiple vehicles were stuck, including a delivery truck blocking the roadway.
Removing the stranded vehicles was a challenge.
“The tow trucks are having trouble too,” Foreman said.
Grant County Public Works Director Sam Castro said the road was cleared by midday Thursday.
Drivers who get stuck in a snowdrift should call 911, he said; dispatchers can contact the public works department as well as law enforcement. Castro said the public works department can’t always respond immediately, however.
Castro said it’s difficult to see a snowdrift sometimes or determine its depth. He urged people to use caution when deciding to go out, especially in snowy windy cold conditions - because snowdrifts can appear where there were none a few hours earlier. That was the case on Road 8 and Road 9; both were clear when public works crews went home. But that had changed by midnight.
“You have to anticipate snowdrifts,” Castro said. “Avoid nighttime travel when those winds are blowing.”
The public works department tries to keep the most updated information on its website and social media, he said. Road closures and conditions for state highways are available on the Washington State Department of Transportation website.
“Check your public works websites,” he said.
Labor laws place limits on work hours, so it’s impossible for public works crews to be available 24/7, Castro said.
“Our operators can only drive so many hours,” he said.
Bad weather conditions can stymie even people who clear roads for a living. Castro cited the example of public works crews clearing roads in the north section of Grant County last week. The combination of wind and blowing snow produced conditions that made it impossible for the crews to move - including six-foot snowdrifts - and five public works employees were stranded temporarily.
“They couldn’t move their equipment,” he said.
Reopening a road that’s been closed by a snowdrift takes a while.
“It takes hours to clear one particular area when you’re dealing with snowdrifts,” Castro said.
Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.
