Where are the snow plows? Website launched to help Colorado drivers
Nevermore will frustrated winter drivers have to wonder where the snowplows are.
At least, some of that mystery might be resolved when it comes to plows working on state highways.
On Sunday, just in time for Monday’s statewide storm, the Colorado Department of Transportation launched cotrip.org/snowplow.htm#/snowplow, which allows drivers to track the plows – where they’ve been, where they are and how fast they are going.
“Actually, it’s really a tool to improve our operational efficiency – we are looking at things like gas consumption, where they are traveling and how quickly they are traveling,” said Amy Ford, a CDOT spokeswoman.
But the new website is also a big gesture of customer service, Ford said.
“It allows us to turn that information over to the public,” she said Monday. “The call we get so frequently is, ‘I don’t see the plows.'”
The website features a statewide map with the locations of all of CDOT’s plows, which are outfitted with automated vehicle locator systems – or geolocators – that allow CDOT to track the plows on their routes around the state. On the map, users can click on the image of the plow and look at its current or average speeds and its direction of travel.
But for the next two weeks, the map will show Colorado Springs as a sort of donut hole, with not a single CDOT plow on Pikes Peak region highways. In reality, that won’t be the case, Ford said. But only 860 of CDOT’s 970 plows have been outfitted with the location technology, and plows in the Colorado Springs and Western Slope areas around Craig will be the last added to the system.
Once updated, however, CDOT’s map will allow drivers around the state to plan their trips by choosing plowed roads, Ford added. Eventually, CDOT hopes to add technology that will include a list of the roads most recently plowed, as well as video from the plow trucks.
The map gives an impressive visual sense of CDOT’s plowing operations, which cover 23,000 lane miles – all the there-and-backs – around the state. In 2015, CDOT plows covered 5.9 million miles, Ford said.
“They are covering thousands of miles of roadway with less than a thousand vehicles,” she said. “When you hunker down in your house, that’s when we go out.”
A doe looks out from a thicket of snow covered Gambol Oak during a break in the snowfall in Rockrimmon Monday, February 1, 2016. Photo by Mark Reis, The Gazette
Joe Monfort blows snow from his driveway along Hwy 105 near Sierra Way northeast of Colorado Springs Monday, February 1, 2016. Photo by Mark Reis, The Gazette
Crows in the snow near Monument Monday, February 1, 2016. Photo by Mark Reis, The Gazette
A snow plow passes an abandoned car on I-25 near the Greenland exit north of Colorado Springs Monday, February 1, 2016. Photo by Mark Reis, The Gazette
The scene of a six car crash on southbound I-25 near the Northgate exit Monday, February 1, 2016. Photo by Mark Reis, The Gazette
Tri Lakes Battalion Chief Jamey Bumgarner at the scene of a jackknifed semi that had all southbound lanes of I-25 at the Northgate exit blocked for more than an hour Monday, February 1, 2016. Photo by Mark Reis, The Gazette
Air Force Academy firefighers Eric Riffle, left, and Mark Caraway examine damage to a jackknifed semi that had all southbound lanes of I-25 at the Northgate exit blocked for more than an hour Monday, February 1, 2016. Photo by Mark Reis, The Gazette
As the snow picked up again Monday afternoon, February 2, 2016, Deana Heisler, left, and her daughter, Taylor Heisler, broke out their snowshoes for a two mile hike from their home to the Starbucks at the Shops at Briargate. Photo by Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette
Sledders took advantage of a snow day Monday to enjoy a hill at Cottonwood Creek Park in the midst of snow-laden trees Monday, February 1, 2016. Photo by Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette
Steve Cavender keeps on top of keeping the snow cleared on the walkways and bridge at the Bass Pro Shop on Monday, February 1, 2016. Photo by Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette
Photo by Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette
Photo by Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette