Sedona AZ – With another winter storm blowing in on New Year’s Eve, Arizona Department of Transportation snowplow operators will work 12-hour shifts to clear snow and ice from highways. And they need your help to do their jobs effectively and safely.
ADOT’s certified snowplow drivers, operating the agency’s nearly 200 plows, need room to work. For your safety and theirs, stay at least four vehicle lengths behind and never pass a working plow until the driver pulls over to let traffic pass.
A 2011 accident scene involving an overturned snowplow that injured its driver. ADOT asks drivers to Respect the Plow!
Never assume a snowplow operator knows you are nearby. If you can’t see the plow driver, there is a good chance the driver can’t see you.
Here are some other safety tips from ADOT snowplow drivers:
Consider putting off travel during a storm and waiting until ADOT’s plows have cleared highways of snow and ice. It’s much more difficult for snowplows to do their jobs when a highway is jammed with vehicles stopped by slide-offs and crashes on the slick surface.
To avoid interfering with snowplows, drivers of large trucks should heed signs on steep uphill grades telling them to stay in the right lane or right lanes: One example is eastbound Interstate 40 on Ash Fork Hill approaching Williams.
If approaching an oncoming snowplow, slow down and give the plow extra room. Leave space when stopping behind a snowplow. The driver might need to back up.
Flagstaff Arizona – exclusive SedonaEye.com photo
Just because a plow has been through an area, don’t assume the roadway is completely clear of snow and ice.
In addition, motorists traveling in the high country should be ready to slow down and allow extra braking distance behind all vehicles.
If you decide to travel during a snowstorm, be prepared for delays and the possibility that you will spend extended time in winter conditions due to slowing and closures caused by the weather.
Pack an emergency kit that includes warm clothes and gloves, blankets, healthy snacks, water and a first-aid kit including all necessary medications, and a fully charged cellphone. Make sure your gas tank is full or close to it.
For more tips on respecting the plow and other winter driving essentials, visit azdot.gov/Knowsnow.
Read www.SedonaEye.com for daily news and interactive views!
No plows on 179……
There was a time when City of Sedona actually contracted with Brewer Bros. to have city roads snowplowed. Too bad they (City of S) decided tax money would be better spent with the social club AKA Regiona Chamber of Commerce.
Stuck on 179 for three hours. No idea on what was going on. Called Sedona Fire District and Sedona Police Department a couple of times. They were clueless.
A Sedona Police vehicle finally cruised by and provided no additional information.
The storm appears to have taken our local “first responders” completely by surprise with no plan in place. Not very reassuring. Eventually, we just worked our way past the stalled cars by driving slowly on the left edge of the road and got out of there on our own.
Y’all should buy a scanner to listen to the Sedona PD. It was a hoot on NYE listening to the non-stop hysteria. Rollovers, huge back-ups, officers pleading for tows that never arrived, tow trucks having to be extricated by other tow trucks, hysterical tourists hyperventilating in police cruisers after fender-benders at the roundabouts. Me oh my. I just sipped my adult beverage and took it all in.
I’m from Chicago where mayors got kicked to the curb when the streets failed to get plowed and the snow plan failed. Hey, Mayor Sandy! What’s your plan?
@RememberingWhen
Ask the question what happened to contracts with Brewer Bros or any similar company to plow ? Our subdivision streets were swept during the rest of the year when we didn’t have stormy weather. Who does that now? Coconino County was excellent at maintaining Sedona roads before city created. I wish our side of Sedona had been left OUT of that package. Rotten DEAL.
Coming into Sedona from the VOC is a downhill curve right before mile marker 309.
I have personally seen 1 bicycles/people and 4 cars being extracted from the deep drop once a unprepared driver/ bicycle leaves the road surface and careens down the slope.
I saw the last one January 4 when I drove by.
There was a state trooper there who officially mans the state road, I’m guessing. I’m not sure who is responsible be it the state or federal gov’t, the Yavapai County or City of Sedona but I can tell you, nothing is being done to place a barrier to prevent people from going off the road nor is it ever reported locally. NEVER.
I can not help but wonder if the car in fact went off the road on the 4th or maybe days before during the snowstorm.
You can not see the bottom of this area from the road.
I can not tell you if there have ever been fatalities but I resent that the information is not being reported or something being done to protect the drivers that are not familiar with the road.
How many lives before a barrier is approved in the budget?
If Sedona has a weather catastrophe and major traffic disaster on New Years Eve and yet no media report it, did it really happen? I guess I must live in an alternate universe. We had a contractor who told me last summer, “You do realize that we live in a bubble here, don’t you?”. I think he was right. Life in Sedona is no reflection upon reality that I’ve ever experienced.
Eddie, says major traffic disaster on New Years Eve and yet no media report it, Eddie Red rock new front page Friday and on face book in real time ….
Eddie,
Sedona only has 8000 to 10,000 people
To the Phoenix papers we are not a big deal.
Maricopa County, Arizona estimated population is 4,307,033 with a growth rate of 1.74% in the past year according to the most recent United States census data.
Eddie, You do realize that YOU live in a bubble of your own making and it is 1970.
Maricopa County adds 75,000 people each year almost 10 times the population of Sedona . And people think we will not grow,YES traffic is in our future… Lets plan not complain….
Most long time residents know the Soy Boy’s that run the Sedona (deleted by editor) Fake News are no more than cheerleaders for the Sedona Chamber and what ever city staff and council members that support the chamber.
Picture the editor and publisher in cheerleader outfits emblazoned with ” Sedona Chamber”. Snidely Whiplash should also be wearing his Chamber /Tourist uniform.
Truth and planning for a non tourist future, not in Sedona.
(deleted by editor) sake steve say something out of the other side of your mouth
Sedona has about 6K people on good day most taxpayers drop in to our 2 or 4 homes when we like the weather or want to get away from other places weather and tourists
key words steve we get away from tourists to come here for peace and quiet and stars and cleanliness
Sedona council job’s to keep red rocks pristine, paths clean of (deleted by editor), nights quiet & stars visible every night
been to grand canyon????? no it’s nota developed for the 6 million tourists it gets each year because it would ruin why people wait in line for hours and hours to park and ride to look at it
there are no (deleted by editor) bridges spanning it for drive thru, no increased visibility parking zones, no parking garages, no elevators, no condos, motels, timeshare, hotels, restaurants to appease and cater to the hordes of travelers staying for a bus tour length or half day visit
what does the usfs know? don’t build for tourists. don’t create for tourists. they will come, like the mayor says. let those that do come decide whether its worth their respect to be discomforted.
@steve Segner, for the record I am NOT “Ready Eddie” @Eddie to whom you refer in your comment.
@BKM and @Sedona Mayor SEE THE SNOW ? We see the snow. We see no snow removal. We see no plan.
Mayor read BKM.
Mayor what is council plan ?