Iowa DOT Winter Operations director Craig Bargfrede says they have crews standing by as the forecast calls for a winter storm to drop lots of snow on the state.
“Typically when we have an event like this that is forecasted and going to impact us over a holiday or over a weekend, we will shift people. We will have staff on board, bring folks in to deal with the event,” he says. He says something like this is part of normal winter operations. “It’s a natural thing that we do, especially with our full time staff,” Bargfrede says. “Volunteers from a winter seasonal position standpoint, we have those folks on board to help augment. And a lot of times they are really good at stepping in where we need to fill in people.”
Bargfrede says most winter operations workers have been through something like this already. “Mother Nature doesn’t follow the nine to five type of Monday through Friday routine. Our staff are fully aware of it. Many have been through these types of things before and they accept the fact that we may have to be out there over the holiday,” Bargfrede says. Bargfrede says if you are traveling this weekend, check the Iowa DOT’s 511.org site to see the road conditions.
“It’s a good resource anytime during the winter season, but especially during the holiday season, really looked at 511 for your source of information on road conditions and what’s going on out there on the system. Lots of lots of valuable information on that website,” he says. Bargfrede says one of his biggest concerns is the potential for more high winds with this storm. “This could be a very impactful event from a visibility standpoint. So if you see ahead of you a big snow cloud, don’t just think that it’s just snow blowing around, there very could easily be a big orange Iowa DOT truck hidden in that snow cloud. So just be cautious,” Bargfrede says. He says give the plows plenty of room to do their job.
Many cities have already implemented their snow ordinances and also have the plows ready for the storm.