Plowing County Road??

[ArlyA]

we get snow. Our street in Hancock MI.

 

[ovrszd]

I maintain 50 miles of Township gravel roads. One 1/2 mile deadend road ends at a farm house. He almost always gets it cleared before I get there. So we work together. If he needs me he calls. Otherwise I skip it. I have to road the grader a mile on a paved road to get there.

In my case, if it's a "public" road I open it. Even if it ends at a field with no houses. They pay taxes just like those with a house on their road.

 

[spruce Deere]

The ol' man and I have plowed snow on our county road on several occasions over the years... not that the county would not plow the road, they were terribly slow to get to our road. Why call and complain if we can do it. Then one year the county called the ol' man and told him if anything happened, it's on us.... he told them that the risk of something happening is greater not getting plowed in a timely manner if someone has a medical or some other emergency with the older, retired people that live down the road.

They are a little faster on the snow plowing last few years now, but the new crop of young grader operators need more pointers on plowing snow and grading roads

 

[Elviscaretaker]

I've always been... if you want it done do it yourself. At my old place I got tired of the crashes and abandoned cars in front of my property, so when it snowed I went out to clear the hill and no more problems except for the people who thought I worked for the city that would demand I come and do theirs. Yah, right..... City didn't have the equipment to do much more than the main hwy. Now that I've escaped communism, we live less than a mile from the sand pile so the main drag is always taken care of. Our "spur" road not so much. Picked up a hydraulic snow blade for my big tractor (auction and good price) and I just plow the .6 mile of road (dirt and a hill) and my 2k feet of driveway. I only have 2 "neighbors and they appreciate it. Takes about 35 minutes to do it, so why not. Garbage company knows it'll be clear so they never miss us and I really don't mind. My property taxes went up a bit on my home, down on my ag land. By the way, dead end and we are the last ones on the road.

 

[alpacalips]

On the following page is a pdf link that shows what Spokane County's plowing priorities are supposed to be.

Winter Roads Maintenance | Spokane County, WA

www.spokanecounty.org

I also live in Spokane county. The road I live on has about 10 homes and is classified priority 3 residential, but I haven't seen them plow it once in 5-1/2 years. When we bought the place a neighbor told me as much, that it's a county road but the county won't touch it. There are three of us with tractors and one with a side by side that do that we can to clear the snow as we have time. One of the neighbors even takes a collection and buys rock and gravel to repair the potholes in the summer.

The paved road that our gravel road connects to is a busy road, priority 1 according to the County's map, but it is poorly maintained in the winter. Plowing is rare and they do not apply deicer or sand, so it's frequently packed into an ice sheet.

I've lived in N Idaho and Spokane area all my life so winter driving doesn't bother me, but sometimes I wonder where the taxes go.

 

[Avenger]

On the following page is a pdf link that shows what Spokane County's plowing priorities are supposed to be.

Winter Roads Maintenance | Spokane County, WA

www.spokanecounty.org

I also live in Spokane county. The road I live on has about 10 homes and is classified priority 3 residential, but I haven't seen them plow it once in 5-1/2 years. When we bought the place a neighbor told me as much, that it's a county road but the county won't touch it. There are three of us with tractors and one with a side by side that do that we can to clear the snow as we have time. One of the neighbors even takes a collection and buys rock and gravel to repair the potholes in the summer.

The paved road that our gravel road connects to is a busy road, priority 1 according to the County's map, but it is poorly maintained in the winter. Plowing is rare and they do not apply deicer or sand, so it's frequently packed into an ice sheet.

I've lived in N Idaho and Spokane area all my life so winter driving doesn't bother me, but sometimes I wonder where the taxes go.

Thank you for that!
According to that map, my back country gravel road with 12 houses on it is considered a "Priority 2 - Secondary Arterial" This info blows my mind! Of course, we are in that large northern district 1. We have been there for 14 years. We do get plowed, and used to get plowed same day as the storm event. I was told it was because the school bus goes down that road to pickup my neighbors kids and makes a big loop. They finished school two years ago, and I havent seen the school bus since. And the plows started coming a few days after the snow event. Maybe the map hasn't been updated??

In fact, we got about an inch yesterday, and they sent the grader down the road for the first time this year! It scrapped up almost all the compact snow and ice and created huge berms in front of the driveways. I took my tractor out last night to remove that speed bump and clear my mailbox. So much for the “boots” or “gates” Spokane County uses.

I am confident in my abilities to drive in on these roads. I have been hit (in town) but have yet to hit anyone. Its mostly these cars and bald tires that I worry about. Getting stuck in deep snow in the middle of the road and simply walking away from the car is not a bright idea. But yet they do it! My road is not a dead end, but its also not a main route to anywhere either. So, I'm not even sure why someone in a sedan would even attempt to come up the road with more than a few inches of snow.

Anyway, I probably wont plow my county road, unless its so bad that I feel its completely necessary. Even then, I probably wont go to the pavement, just the steep hills and curves section, if at all. We will see.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Around me it doesn't snow very often at all. So there is not much public equipment to handle it. I've never had a second thought about jumping on a tractor and blading what needs to be done on the road. There are always lots of people out on their tractors clearing their little sections of the roads. The state equipment gets the main roads pretty well and the individuals typically make most areas passable up to the main roads.

 

[Yander]

I would be careful what you start. It will soon become expected of you from the county and the neighbors. If you are ok with that, want to do it and have the time; go for it. That would be my only concern. I don't want to be obligated. I have a job and can't be counted on for that. I will not take payment from neighbors because i don't want to become their plow guy at their beckoned call. I will get there eventually but it might be after work.

 

[ovrszd]

I would be careful what you start. It will soon become expected of you from the county and the neighbors. If you are ok with that, want to do it and have the time; go for it. That would be my only concern. I don't want to be obligated. I have a job and can't be counted on for that. I will not take payment from neighbors because i don't want to become their plow guy at their beckoned call. I will get there eventually but it might be after work.

I've ran a township grader for 35 years. I've got myself tangled up in this mess a couple times. I plow several rural driveways for people that don't have the resources to do so and their drives drift bad. Over the years I've had 3 complain about how I was doing it. I never opened their drives again. All other times I get cards in the mail, sometimes cash, even have people come outside when I'm there and give me a thermos of hot coffee or hot chocolate. I'm usually in their driveways in the wee hours of the morning. Might just be a blink, blink, blink of the porch lite. But I appreciate all of it.

 

[Elviscaretaker]

I would be careful what you start. It will soon become expected of you from the county and the neighbors. If you are ok with that, want to do it and have the time; go for it. That would be my only concern. I don't want to be obligated. I have a job and can't be counted on for that. I will not take payment from neighbors because i don't want to become their plow guy at their beckoned call. I will get there eventually but it might be after work.

I feel no obligation to do this, nor do I have expectations of them feeling obligated to help me. No one gets offended or butt hurt and the only time money will change hands is if it's a business transaction.