Winter storms are just a part of life in the Upper Peninsula, but when storms come into the region quickly with dense snow, road commissions face a difficult task.
In Houghton County, the Road Commission works tirelessly to keep roads clear. Some techniques the commission uses to get around Houghton’s hilly terrain include sending a sander up a hill in reverse and adding micro tread to the plow truck tires. Despite that, sometimes even professionals need additional help.
“Some of our larger plows, which are Oshkosh plows, to move the snow, they can move a lot more. They’re a lot heavier also, but those usually only go out maybe 12 times a year. But yesterday was definitely one of those cases where they were out. And unfortunately, actually, one of our Oshkosh plows is pretty much totaled. It ran off the road and hit a tree. So no one was injured, but 99% of the time we are able to pull our vehicles from being stuck with their own equipment, with their own winch trucks,” said Houghton County Road Commission Engineer Kevin Harju.
To get plow vehicles out of sticky situations, Houghton County has a large winch truck to pull plows out. Though yesterday’s elements required assistance from Superior Service Towing. Harju says residents need patience during large storm systems, especially when falling snow is heavy, wet and dense.
