Road Closed...What?! Three months ago, you planned a fun ski trip for this weekend on the other side of the state. Finally, the day is here and you get ready to head out the door. You’re expecting snow, but as of right now, the roads look fine. You have a long drive ahead of you — It’s 4 p.m. on a Thursday when you start your journey east to the mountains, and if all goes well, you’ll be there my 9 p.m. A few hours into your drive, the weather takes a little turn for the worse. With snow coming down a little heavier, temperatures start to drop and the wind is now beginning to blow pretty hard. You start driving a little slower, and about 70 miles from the ski resort your travels have now become white-knuckle driving. Quite upset at this point because this totally messes up your weekend ski trip, you turn around and decide to stay in a hotel nearby to wait out the storm in hopes the road will reopen soon. Instead of driving past the road block, you make a wise choice to wait it out. It’s frustrating, it’s inconvenient, and trust us when we say we totally understand! Many travelers wonder why we close roads during the winter weather season. As this video shows, there can be many reasons, actually. In severe weather road conditions, the #1 reason is low-visibility. ITD crews make numerous passes on our roadways, and if they cannot see well, they determine it is unsafe for motorists. Secondly, if the wind is blowing too hard, the snow drifts become uncontrollable. Once the snow drifts become unmanageable and the crews cannot keep up with them, this is also an indicator to close a road. Some other reasons would be severe black ice on the roadways, and heavy snowfall that is impassable. Also, in mountain passes, the road may close due to avalanches. ITD and the Idaho State Police do not like to close roads due to the weather — we would prefer to keep roads open in order to keep traffic flowing, but that is not always possible. Here’s some food for thought —when coming to a road block, fight the urge to drive past it. Per Idaho Code 19-623, that is punishable by up to a $300 fine, is a possible misdemeanor, and could include imprisonment in the county jail. Published 02-28-20 |