NDDOT hires more crews to assist with snow clearing

Fargo, North Dakota – The public is being advised by Fargo Public Works not to park on the street while blizzard-like conditions prevail in our region.

As the storm moves from the west to the east, they say plowing operations will continue.

Our region is receiving assistance from other divisions of the North Dakota Department of Transportation as the snow continues to fall.

“We’ve kind of been preparing for the last month. This one, with the high winds and high amount of snow, we’ve kinda steered more towards the blades with the V plows and the big truck blowers to make sure they’re all ready to go. If we get 12 to 15-foot drifts, we’re gonna need them just to blow through,” says Kent Leysring, the Maintenance Superintendent of the NDDOT Fargo branch.

To assist in clearing the roads, at least twelve representatives from the Williston branch are dispersed to Jamestown, Grand Forks, and Fargo.

Highway closures are anticipated at some point owing to poor visibility, according to the maintenance superintendent of the branch in Fargo, who said they have been preparing for this specific storm since last week.

“I would say I-94 because the east-west roads got such high banks already. With these winds and stuff and the amount of snow, we already have, it’s just gonna block roads. Yesterday we spent all day getting all the trucks full of fuel and ready to go and any repairs that needed to be made. So, we’re ready,” said Leysring.

The majority of people, according to Captain Bryan Niewind of the North Dakota Highway Patrol, have complied with the no-travel advice in Valley City.

The NDHP probably won’t be out as much tomorrow until later in the day, according to Niewind.

According to him, when a route closes, people tend to follow their GPS directions blindly, which may lead them to secondary roads with worse conditions than the main ones.

“That technology does not have your best interest in mind. They’re trying to get you to point A to point B but you kind of need to look out your windshield, look at conditions, pay attention to the National Weather Service, look at road reporting versus just blindly following your GPS devices because it’s going to take you some places where it’s going to be a danger to you. This kind of a life-threatening storm with the amount of snow we’re supposed to get and the type of conditions we’re gonna have,” Niewind said.

It won’t likely get better on the roads until Thursday.

The general public is being advised by officials not to drive unless it is absolutely necessary.