'Crazy' winter conditions help UDOT fill potholes, complete other road work early
With a high of 69 degrees Fahrenheit, Salt Lake City broke a daily high-temperature record for the third straight day on Tuesday.
This week's unseasonably warm temperatures have also had an unlikely benefit for state roads.
Utah Department of Transportation crews, which are normally out in snowplows looking to clear out roads from the latest snowstorm, have been instead working on filling potholes and completing other tasks normally reserved for the springtime.
UDOT officials said state crews filled 78 potholes along I-80 and I-15 on Sunday alone, and they plan to fill in more by the 'Spaghetti Bowl' that links both freeways and state Route 201 together in Salt Lake County before the next storm rolls in.
'No matter what the weather is, we're always out here working. There are still plenty of activities to take care of,' said Shawn Lambert, director of maintenance for UDOT, in a statement on Tuesday.
UDOT officials added that its Grantsville maintenance crews were working to seal cracks along the state Route 196 near Dugway Proving Ground, while its Echo maintenance shed crew was working to clear debris from drains.
Other springlike maintenance work was also planned for areas typically fighting snowfall at this point in the year.
'It's a lot easier on us to be out here working in the cool weather than in the summer heat,' said Shane Lazenby, UDOT's Grantsville shed supervisor.
All of it comes not just with the record-breaking warmth this week but low snowfall totals this season. Salt Lake City, for example, has only received 6.3 inches of snowfall this winter, putting it on track for one of its lowest collections since the National Weather Service began tracking its weather in 1874.
That's been the case for valleys across the state. Alex DeSmet, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Salt Lake City office, explained last month that most precipitation-heavy storms have been too warm for valley snow, while colder systems haven't produced much precipitation this winter. That was also the case last week.
While it's given UDOT a head start on this spring's workload, Lambert said crews are also prepared for wrinkles in Utah's constantly unpredictable weather.
'It's kind of a crazy year with much less snow than usual, but it can change on a dime here,' he said.
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