Updated 3:30 p.m.: Snow plowing crews out in force in Ann Arbor, across Washtenaw County as snow makes driving tough
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The Washtenaw County Road Commission has its entire fleet of 46 trucks deployed this afternoon as snow falls across the area, said Jim Harmon, director of operations.
"Right now, we're focusing on primary roads," he said. "That's state highways in the county and major paved roadways."
The full fleet will stay on through 8 p.m., when a night crew of four drivers will take over and focus on state highways. The day shift will resume work at 4 a.m. to clear roads for the morning rush hour, Harmon said. Additional drivers could be called in overnight if needed, he said.
It's a snowy day in Ann Arbor, causing some traffic problems on area roadways.
Motorists can expect this afternoon's steady snowfall to continue in the area through the evening and taper off overnight after 3 to 5 inches has fallen, meteorologists say. Click here for traffic incident updates.
The weather prompted Ypsilanti Public Schools to cancel evening activities tonight. Some sporting events in local districts also were canceled.
The snow is keeping local police agencies busy. At 2 p.m., Washtenaw County dispatchers said they were sending units to five crashes, including one blocking eastbound M-14 at Barton Drive.
No injuries have been reported.
A winter weather advisory is in effect until 7 a.m. Friday.
Harmon said all roads are passable at the moment but are getting more and more treacherous.
"We're just encouraging people slow down," he said. "Don't crowd the snowplows. Give them plenty of room to do their job and just pay attention. Avoid distracted driving."
Drivers will begin clearing residential areas and gravel roads once the major roads are clear, he said.
In the City of Ann Arbor, field operations supervisor Kirk Pennington said travel will become more treacherous during the evening rush hour when trucks have trouble keeping the roads clear because of traffic volumes.
A full day shift of 13 trucks is working to clear major roads, he said. Residential street clearing will begin at 8 a.m. Friday, he said.
Meteorologist Steve Freitag of the National Weather Service in White Lake Township said less than an inch of snow had fallen by 2 p.m. He said the snow will remain steady - picking up in intensity at points in the afternoon and evening. Ann Arbor area residents can expect to see 3 to 5 inches by morning, he said.
A bit north near M-59, about 6 inches is predicted.
Once the snow tapers off, residents will be forced to contend with continued cold temperatures. But there's good news on the horizon: Freitag said it will warm up by early next week, and we're even expected to see the sun.
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Everybody be safe tonight!
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Posted Jan 7
Don't block the side streets when the traffic backs up, leave more room between you and the car ahead of you and give other drivers a break...let them merge when needed.
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Posted Jan 7
Honestly, I'd gladly sacrifice salt for my neighborhood sub. in favor of MAKING SURE there is enough salt on the highway this year. Black ice/unsalted spots on the freeway have cause numerous deaths in the past few years. Some of this could have been averted, i believe, if the salt trucks were out there and not worried about rationing the salt supply.
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Posted Jan 7
... and EVERY winter death could have been avoided if some people actually took personal responsibility and reduced their speed! No death out there would have happened, even without any salt, if the causation had been going a reasonable speed for conditions.
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Posted Jan 7
i'm still taking an undie on the number of plows/salt trucks out...
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Posted Jan 7
Roll Tide!!
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Posted Jan 7
Sadly, it's getting to the point that it's not safe to live in this state during the winter. This story is a joke. Another 2 hour commute from Ohio never seeing a single truck outside of Ohio. We're not idiots. It's easy to see when salt has been laid. There was none by 7:30pm. Sick.
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Posted Jan 7
Any updates? You have a great opportunity here to provide a service by letting folks know how the roads are doing late tonight and early tomorrow morning as folks plan their route to work...
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Posted Jan 7
Between 8:30 and 9:30, I-94 going west was slick and dangerous. There was 1 salt truck in Wash Co in a 40 mile drive, none in Wayne County. About 6 cars/trucks off the road. Most people driving slowly. It was treacherous. Are there supposed to be plows anymore? None seen. Ditto in A2, no salt trucks or plows, just marks being made by cars.
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Posted Jan 7
Surface streets were in poor condition Friday morning. Ann Arbor road maintenance is poor in general. The snow stopped at a decent time to get the roads in acceptable shape before the morning rush. West Stadium, Maple, and Jackson were poor. The 20 mile stretch of I-94 west out of Ann Arbor was worst and most dangerous by far in the Ann Arbor area.
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Posted Jan 8
Our roads would be so much easier to maintain if we just cleared the snow off of them. How much money does our city waste each year resurfacing potholes that are created because the snow is left to rot the streets out?
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Posted Jan 8
I see the "maintainance experts" are commenting this morning...
Not many of them though so the roads must be pretty darn good out there! Well done road crews, roads were fine my way, the commuters are just don't know how to drive in snow...
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Posted Jan 8