The big news on everyone's mind these days is weather and roads. After a week of bitter cold, deep snow, and winter weather over Christmas and New Year's vacation the realization that not much is known about Big Sandy's Road Crews. Colby Baumgam, Lance Cook, Brad Taylor who works Loma, and Pete Carroll are Chouteau County's District 1 rural road crew. A great way to start the new year for anyone in the Big Sandy and Loma areas would be to thank those whose job it is to keep our gravel roads open during the winter. Likewise tip your hat to the Montana Highway crew, Ty Cline, Beau Pegar, and Clay Dixon who keep our Montana highways as safe as they can make them.
Both crews have a job of service which is seldom acknowledged or recognized. You could probably count how many times they have been thanked on one hand.
Big Sandy is in Chouteau County's Road District 1. It has around 800 miles of gravel road. Chouteau County has three road districts totaling 2,400 miles of country roads. This makes Chouteau County one of the top counties in the state for the most gravel roads. Big Sandy's Road District 1 goes from Loma to Hill County. Their main priority is to maintain snow removal for school bus routes and mail routes. This last week they worked eight days straight right through the holiday. In an emergency, they will work in blizzard conditions, blowing snow with strong winds, but safety for the crew must be considered first. They wait if it is deemed to dangerous before they plow the roads. They have two road plows in Big Sandy and two in the Loma area. Normally they drive the route first to see if road needs plowing, however sometimes they call a farmer or two asking what the conditions are like.
The Facebook page for Montana Department of Transportation has a lot of information if you are interested. Chouteau County has 177 miles of Montana Highway. The level of service for our highways are determined by the road conditions and the average number of cars counted by traffic counters. Highway 87 is a level 2.
The old Montana Highway equipment only has a plow with the ability to lay sand. The newer combo units have sand, deicer and the ability to plow. "The effective working temperature for sodium chloride is above 15 F on the road surface. Chlorides work like anti-freeze by lowering the freezing temperature of water and preventing ice from forming a strong bond to the road. It helps keep roads from becoming slick, improves safety and reduces accidents," according Montana Department of Transportation, and it can be sprayed before a storm arrives. Rob Gregory will get calls from dispatch, the highway patrol, or some drivers about the current road conditions and he can then send out the proper treatment for road safety. They only have three employees for this area and they get out on the highways by 6:00 AM and often work till 10:30 PM. They could start working at 4:30 AM, but working that many hours in difficult visibility make it dangerous for the Montana Highway Crew. They can be notified in the middle of the night.
Brad Moore has the discretion to decide if the busses should go out during winter storm. However, he leaves the decision up to the bus drivers whether or not to drive the roads because he believes "they are the ones out there, they drive them every day, and they've been great. If it isn't safe they don't drive them." The drivers can make alternative plans.
Moore said, "We are extremely lucky here in Big Sandy with the experience of the drivers and how well they take care of that stuff with the parents. I worry about nothing, because they are that good". The school does not have an agreement with the county to make sure the roads are plowed, but by law Superintendent Moore meets with a county transportation committee which is made up of two representatives from each school, County Superintendent, and County Commissioners to present to them their bus routes. The County then has to approve the routes and budget for them. The County crew makes the school routes their top priority. There are 4 bus routes. The busses travel a total of 425 miles a day round trip. That is 216 miles daily for the road crew to keep open.
