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Richards earns kudos for immediate response to mud-tracking issue

“Stay between the white lines” is a phrase we often hear as advice for navigating a highway in poor visibility conditions, usually caused by fog, snow and ice, or some other weather system. But what if weather conditions aren’t bad, and you still can’t even see the white lines?

Earlier this week, that issue found its way to the District 5 Blackfoot Maintenance Shed and its foreman Randy Richards (pictured below).

Bubba Ricker contacted District Engineer Ed Bala in the early afternoon of Feb. 10 with his concern that mud tracked onto U.S. 26 from an unpaved side road about five miles into Bingham County had hardened in the westbound travel lanes and was potentially compromising the safety of drivers, especially motorcycle riders. Riker also said the mud and debris was obscuring the white navigational lines on the highway shoulder near the fog line.

The mud was thought to have been tracked onto the highway by heavy equipment from a nearby agricultural operation.

The mud build-up was estimated to be four to five inches deep on the shoulder. “If a vehicle was to drift over the fog line, they could easily contact this build up and cause a serious accident,” Riker explained.

The stretch of road runs between Blackfoot and the 20/26 intersection near Idaho National Laboratory.

Since motorists’ safety is one of ITD’s top concerns, Bala asked Richards to look into the issue and take care of it as soon as possible. Richards and crew used a snowplow blade to clean the mud off the side of the road.

Later on that same Feb. 10 day, Bala responded to Ricker to let him know that his concerns had been addressed. On Feb.18, Ricker emailed Bala with the following:

“Not only did you respond immediately with an email response to my question/concern with mudtracking on Highway 26, but the problem was resolved immediately. I would ask of you to forward this email to your and Randy Richards’ immediate supervisors so I can share with them the performance of your department in dealing with a public concern. It seems that many times an email will fall on deaf ears, but not in this case. I appreciate the timely action you and Randy took and hope that in some way your supervisor recognizes this! Thanks again.”