Snow drifts and gravel roads pose biggest hurdles for Butler County road crews

The storm came just as predicted, and brought with it a heavy blanket of snow that has covered every road in Butler County. But road crews started preparing for things ahead of time.

According to Butler County Highway Superintendent Robby Moore, Tuesday was spent making sure all road equipment would be ready to go when the inclement weather arrived.

“As far as clearing the roads concerned, clearing the asphalt surfaces shouldn’t be a problem,” Moore noted. “It will be more difficult to clear the gravel roads in the county.”

Moore went on to explain the gravel roads are trafficked less than paved roads, which can lead to conditions being more hazardous.

“We just had some heavy rain — which can cause problems with gravel roads — and then the temperature dropped to below freezing, and now we have snow on top of everything else,” Moore explained. “We can only do so much with those roads.”

Moore said he is mostly concerned with snow drifts as a result of the high winds that came with the storm.

“When the snow is light and dry like this, the winds can cause snow to drift in areas next to roads,” Moore said. “Things like that make it difficult to tell whether or not you’re actually on the road or not. So, I really hope we don’t get much of that.”

When asked if any of the preparations from the previous day would be effective, Moore said he hoped they would be.

“We spent most of Tuesday putting (salt) brine on the roads and getting them ready,” he explained. “Usually, the salt brine doesn’t freeze until the temperature gets below 20 degrees. So, as we’re clearing everything off, we hope that what’s beneath will be loose enough to push out.”

Moore continued to say the light dry snow that fell in the county is typically easier to remove than the heavy wet snow, which can become packed down and freeze more easily.

“I think we have been surprised by the way the snow has stuck to the roadways,” Moore remarked. “We really thought that we would be able to clear everything pretty quickly, but it’s more difficult than we planned.”

Moore said the sun being out gives him hope that the snow will break loose on the roads more.

“I really can’t give a projected timeline on when the paved roads will be clear,” Moore said. “We’re just going to have to play it by ear. Yesterday I would have told you we should have all the asphalt cleared by the end of this afternoon. But seeing how things are now, I can’t really say.”