State Rolls Out Heavy Equipment To Clear Roads Of Ice

Clearing the roads has become a more difficult job because the slush has turned to a hard layer of ice, and that's prompted a change in strategy.<br/><br/>News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan explains. <br/><br/>The

Tuesday, January 16th 2007, 12:35 pm

By: News On 6

Clearing the roads has become a more difficult job because the slush has turned to a hard layer of ice, and that's prompted a change in strategy.

News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan explains.

The slight thawing but hard refreezing Monday night has made it tougher to clear the roads, though the major highways are passable and in some places clear of all ice and snow. Everyone from the state down to the city has turned to road graders instead of snowplows to do most of the work that's left.

The state brought in road graders to clear parts of Highway 169 because the thick layer of ice is too much for a snowplow to handle.

"A lot of the ice patches we're having, especially with the refreezing, we need those motor graders to bust that ice up," Cole Perryman ODOT spokesman Cole Perryman said.

The city of Owasso switched over too. There road graders broke up the ice and snow plows followed to move it to the side.

Elsewhere, like on this access road near I-44, there are patches that are frozen solid and practically impassable.

For the most part the more heavily traveled roads get more attention from snowplow and that's why they're clear. U.S. Highway 169 near Owasso and it's basically clear, but 46th Street North, which gets much less traffic, gets less attention and even Tuesday it was still snow packed.

And there's a difference at this interchange that many drivers don't understand, the highway is plowed by ODOT's Tulsa contractor, 46th Street is handled by the city of Tulsa, which has higher priorities elsewhere.

Drivers have mixed opinions of the job that's been done so far.

â€œThe highways are pretty good, but the side roads are pretty bad still, they're still pretty bad,â€ said one driver.

People have complained about Highway 75 South at 71st. It's down to one good lane, but ODOT says they're working to clear the ice that's left.

"Often times people come into an area when we're halfway through our work, or maybe to an area that's a little more icy than another spot," Perryman said.

ODOT says rural counties sometimes clear their roads faster because they have fewer of them. Still they say they're working as fast as they can, with all the equipment they have, to get the job done.