Winter weather at its worst can sometimes translate to trouble on the roads in La Plata County if motorists don’t exercise caution.
“As far as our challenge points, the county has four different road districts, and no road is immune if a blizzard dumps on them, and all are prone to black ice,” said county spokeswoman Megan Graham, speaking on behalf of the county Road and Bridge Department. “But District 1 (the southwestern portion of the county) gets a lot of high winds, which can create problems with visibility and drifting.”
Because of the steep grade alongside the road and the topography, road and bridge crews also keep a close watch on County Road 243, near Lemon Reservoir, each winter for snowslides.
“The Road and Bridge Department tends to roads in terms of priority, and there are a number of factors that contribute to that,” Graham said. “The first is average daily traffic, and the ones that have more volume have priority attention. Location of the road, whether it’s flat or has hills, and whether a school bus route or mail route runs along the road.”
Those include Wildcat Canyon road (County Road 141) on the county’s west side, County Road 210, and Florida Road (County Road 240), county roads 310 and 318 near Ignacio and County Road 501 near Bayfield.
The county Road and Bridge Department maintains nine truck plows, 13 graders and three 1-ton pickups with sanders. The vehicles spread an average of about 14,000 gallons of liquid de-icer and 4,000 tons of sand annually, and they travel an average of 1,500 miles per snowstorm on county roads, excluding federal and state highways.
Protocol depends on the scenario, but in the case of 6 inches of snow, the department would deploy about seven plows in the evening hours, concentrating on paved roads, and send out the entire fleet in the morning for a 10- to 12-hour shift with the objective of plowing all county roads in at least one direction.
Still, auto technicians throughout Durango, who say they see an upswing in business once the weather gets colder, reap the benefits of the season and see a healthy number of fender benders.
Apart from weak tires unable to navigate slick roads, the most common causes of vehicular mishaps in the wintertime are motorists driving too fast, following too closely behind other cars, or getting stranded because of troublesome car batteries.
“Batteries work well in warm weather, but not in extreme hot or cold,” said Don Cornutt, owner of Mountain Auto Care. “A battery that might work well in normal weather won’t start your car on really cold mornings.”
Quality batteries typically will run into issues when they reach about four or five years old. Mechanics can test to see if the battery is likely to get through the winter.
“Cooling systems can also be a problem,” Cornutt said. “If you have weak coolant, it can freeze and cause some expensive damage to the engine. People should have it tested and flushed out if it’s too weak.”
Lights are another issue, particularly because the shorter days bring on more traveling with the headlights on.
And in addition to investing in snow socks, which fit over tires and reduce sliding, or chains, tire dealers and auto mechanics recommend drivers frequently check headlights, tire pressure and car fluids.
“Make sure if you add your own windshield wiper fluid that it’s rated for winter,” said Ben Brittain of Brittain’s Automotive. “If the fluid doesn’t have a good enough freeze rating, it can freeze and bust the car’s windshield wiper tanks.”
jpace@durangoherald.com
